Those Crazy Greeks!

So, I have been divulging my plan to run next year's marathon to everyone. The other day I told my dad. I knew he was quite a runner when I was a kid. I used to ride my bike along side him while he ran the canals. He then said, "Have I told you about when I tried to run a marathon?" No, I'd never heard about this. He ran lots of races back in the day. He could run a 10k under 40 minutes (Fast!!) and decided to try his hand at a marathon. At about mile 15 his legs stopped working. His knees locked and he had to be thrown into the back of a pick-up. This is not the story you want to hear just after you've registered to run. We talked it over and decided he was fast but hadn't trained the distances he should have. So, my confidence remains strong. I am sure I can do it if I train correctly.

History of the marathon:

The inception of the marathon came after a Greek messenger from 490BC ran from a town called Marathon to Athens, the distance of about 26 miles. Assigned to report the victory of the Athenians over Persia, he arrived in Athens and cried, "Rejoice, We Conquer!", and...then dropped DEAD. Hmm...not so inspiring. Those Greeks were quite virile and brawny, too! No biggie. I will be well-rested. No battling Persians for me.

The truth is that in addition to not-so uplifting stories like these, I have read and heard dozens of inspiring accounts of people like me completing a marathon. I decided that since I plan to only do this one time in my lifetime, I would journal my training and feelings along the way for the next nine months. I love reading runners' blogs, from start to finish...very motivating! I am going to add selections from my journal to the right side of my blog page so you can keep up on my progress and give me a good kick in the butt if I seem to be slacking. I'm sure I will need it!