Running the marathon was both one of the simplest things and one of the hardest things I have done in my life. Simple because it merely involves putting one foot in front of the other and hard because it involved months of training, large amounts of discipline, and huge amounts of willpower. Like most things in life, training for the marathon had some high and low points.
I first got interested in running the marathon in December 2005 when the new Las Vegas Marathon course was a few blocks from our house. Early Sunday morning, we walked up the street a bit and waited for the runners. At mile 17 the lead runners were the elite women and they were closely followed and were soon passed by a small group of African runners (they stagger the start of the Las Vegas Marathon). It was wonderful to see world class athletes clipping along at 5 minutes per mile in my neighborhood. Following the elite athletes were ordinary athletic looking people and then even some very ordinary somewhat overweight amateurs. In fact, there were people who looked like me, running the marathon! The thought popped into my head, “If they could run a marathon, maybe I could…”
The idea kicked around in my head for a few months. I did a little bit of online research and finally in late July 2006 I bought David Whitsetts’s excellent book, The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer.
The premise of The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer is simple: anyone in average shape and adequate health can run a marathon if they follow the training guidelines for the book. The book firmly explains that your goal should be finish. Not to lose weight, not to finish in under 4 hours, but just to finish. So that became my goal. The training regimen in the book was developed as part of a college course in which the students train as part of the class and finish a marathon at the end of the semester. The training consists of 16 weeks of running. Each week has four runs: a short run, medium run, short run, and a long run. The runs start out three to five miles long. The longest run, which is done twice, is 18 miles and is several weeks before the marathon.
I bought the book, I went to a running store and bought a $80 pair of Asolo running shoes and some short running socks, and got ready to run. I hit my first big snag. The book has a 16 week training regimen that assumes you have the level of fitness and that you can jog 30 minutes without stopping. I was nowhere near that level. I could jog for 10 or fifteen minutes but then would have to slow down and walk.
The introduction of The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer realizes that most Americans cannot jog continuously for 30 minutes and has a four week program to gain that level of fitness. It literally starts at walking for 30 minutes and then alternating walking and jogging progressing with more and more jogging until after four weeks you are jogging continually for 30 minutes.
However, I was in a bit of a bind. The Las Vegas Marathon was in 16 weeks. I didn’t have time to get to a level of fitness to job continuously for 30 minutes. So using a Google Maps Pedometer tool to map out an estimated three mile course, I ran and walked and ran and walked three miles at a time. I did a few longer runs of five and seven miles which involved a lot of walking. It was hot (August in Las Vegas) and it was monotonous running the same streets every time. Running was miserable. My skin itched, I chafed, and the runs were exhausting. The training program was ramping up to longer runs and I couldn’t keep up. I was finished. On September 7, 2006, I logged my last run using the excellent spreadsheet from The Dead Runners Society. I had run 56 miles in training and still couldn’t jog 30 minutes without slowing to walk. My training was finished and I would not be running the 2006 Las Vegas Marathon.
