Tuning in for a Marathon

...that for once won't involve Law & Order: SVU. I think the other night I decided that I want to run a marathon. And you know I'm serious because I actually went out and bought a book.

I never really ran much in high school. I played soccer for a bit, then tennis, but those were always just short bursts of speed. I didn't really care about long distances so I never bothered with it. I don't have the greatest respiratory system in the world, so it never seemed like an attractive proposition. College called for even less physical activity. I played a little bit of intramural indoor soccer and floor hockey with the Punx (we were the ones in the Black Flag and X-Men T-shirts) and a good amount of on-campus Laser Challenge with the same crew, but I still wasn't really interested in running or exercising.

For some reason, in 2002 I decided to start running. I think it was because I was single. Or bored. Or both. I went to the shoe store and bought some cheap, ugly ass Nikes and started running around town. When I moved to Hoboken, I kept up the running habit for a while (the hot girls in town and the great view of Manhattan inspired for as long as it could), but eventually I gave it up.

It wasn't until my grandfather died a couple years ago that I really got serious about exercising and dieting. and I've been pretty consistent ever since. I lost a bunch of weight and blah blah blah who needs to hear that again? The point is I never thought I'd be able to keep up any good, healthy habits for such a long time, and now I feel like I can set goals and accomplish things in that arena.

The other night we flipped by some crap on TV about some chick losing a bunch of weight and then completing a marathon and I figured, if that schlub can do it, then so can I. I found a bunch of marathon information online, but unfortunately most big marathons are either really soon, or much later in the year. Most of the training methods are designed for 3 or 4 months of training, so if I started that now, I'd be ready way too early and probably burned out.


I should start slow anyway. I had stopped running a few months ago because my nose and cheeks kept mysteriously breaking out. I eliminated that and yoga from my exercise routine while trying to narrow down the problem. I've since determined that it's basically any physical activity where I'm upside down or face down for any long periods of time, so I should be in the clear with running as long as I don't do it on my hands. I jumped back into the game on Tuesday by running for an hour just to see if I could... and I survived. OK, my legs are still sore, but I got 6.11 miles in fairly easily. I don't think I've ever tried to go that far or that long before, so I'm getting all excited for the next milestone, whatever it may be. I guess I'm just going to train to train for a marathon for a while and see if actually stick with it before I go and sign my legs away.

I think I'd be able to run 26 miles with a few pieces of Stride gum and 5 episodes of SVU. And maybe a new pair of Holy ShNikes.