I feel that its boring having conversations with me. When people ask me out for happy hour, most of the time I have to politely decline because I have to get an evening run in. When people ask me what I did this past weekend, either running a race or going a long run is the answer. The next question I get asked does have a unique story to it:
“When did you get into running marathons/long distances?”
To take a step back, I’ve always considered myself a casual runner. In high school I did cross country and track but was mediocre at best. In college, I’d occasionally run but for the most part, got seriously out of shape. At one point during senior week, I remember the button snapping off the waist of my pants which was the pinnacle of being pudgy. At my first day on the job after graduation, I noticed a lot of pear shaped guys walking around the office and remember thinking to myself, “Man, is this what happens when you work in a cubicle environment all day?” I joined the gym the next day but still was casual about working out.
The turning point was sitting on the couch watching MTV and seeing a special called “Diddy Runs the City” which was a chronicle of P.Diddy training for the New York Marathon in eight weeks and then completing it in 4:14:54. I remember seeing it and thinking to myself that I could do the same thing and beat him. My personal goal was set, go from 5 miles to 26.2 miles in 8 weeks and beat P. Diddy’s time. I wouldn’t recommend the program I made for myself but it was basically doing a long run once a week, taking 3 days to recover, doing a mid-distance run in the middle of the week and then doing a long run again. Every week I added 5 miles and tapered down after hitting 20.
Week 1 – 5 miles
Week 2 – 10 miles
Week 3- 15 miles
Week 4 – 15 miles
Week 5 – 20 miles
Week 6 – 12 miles
Week 7 – 8 miles
Week 8 – 5 miles
I remember barely being able to walk the following Monday after each long run.
Doing a marathon for the first time, its hard to grasp all the insight you receive from other marathoners such as hitting the wall, the last 10K being mental will power, or how important the crowd is to help you finish but its all true. I remember the whole ordeal being extremely painful and reminding myself that I could beat P.Diddy and not letting down my friends and family that believed I could do it. With a mile to go, I knew I had it which was the best feeling you could have. I ended up finishing 4:04:54 for my first ever marathon, on 8 weeks of training.
I’m not sure if the Gatorade commercials still use the phrase, “Is it in you?” but I think it runs true. I believe everyone has it in them to reach their goals. It might not be as silly as beating a celebrity’s marathon time but any reasonable aspiration can be reached through pushing past your comfort levels, steadfast stubbornness that you will do it, and believing in yourself. After that first marathon, its now an addiction to see how far I can push myself.
So why do I run marathons? Its because I wanted to beat P.Diddy.
What was your reason to run a marathon?
Editorial featured, running
