This is an educational post…
Tomorrow morning at 7:30am I will run my first full marathon. Today, I had three people give me that “oh you’re running a marathon? I ran one of them 5 mile marathons one time. How far is yours?” junk that I so despise.
Allow me to educate everyone. The name marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, yelling, “We have won!” before collapsing and dying.
Hopefully, I will only collapse, not die…
So, a REAL, BONAFIDE marathon is TECHNICALLY 26.2 miles.
NOT 5 miles.
NOT 3 miles.
NOT 20 miles.
26.2 miles. 26.2 long long miles. Runners say the first half of the marathon isn’t so bad (20 miles) but the last “half” (6.2 miles) is a true test of strength, endurance, mind, soul, and more.
I’ve put in over 250 miles in the last 16 weeks during my training. I’ve run 4-5 days a week for 16 weeks. I’ve changed how I live day to day life. I’ve changed what I eat. I’ve given up lots of sleep, late night movie sessions, my entire wardrobe (my clothes no longer fit) and, according to my wife, my own butt (I lost lots of weight, its flat now) to run this race.
So, if you think about it, pray for me at about 10:30am CST tomorrow morning. That’s when I’ll be on my last 6 miles.
And, if you think I’m crazy, I’ll be posting this week on why I would put myself through something so insane.
Peace!
