I ran my first marathon in ten or so years last October in Chicago. Time was 3 hours 13 minutes and some seconds. It was a lot better than I was expecting. Now, after years of being a fat ex-runner, I am feeling some of my old fitness return—and with it, my old goal of breaking 3 hours in the marathon. For those of you who don’t know a good marathon time from a good Korean restaurant, let me explain: three hours is probably faster than most marathon runners will ever run; if you run a two-something marathon, you are in the same hour range as the fastest runners in the world, albeit, at the further extreme. Many runners set this goal, but only a few make the cut.
Why do I think I can do it? Because I was this close [picture of two fingers barely touching] to doing it back in the 1990s when I was running marathons somewhat regularly. I was a lot younger then, probably a better than average runner, but severely undisciplined. My idea of tough marathon training was to run 40-50 miles a week with some track workouts. My best time back then was 3 hours 2 minutes and change. Not too far off of a sub-3, huh? Imagine what I could have achieved if I had been more consistent in my running and if I had applied some of my current running wisdom to that much younger body?
Now I am older (40 this year), but I am also wiser—at least I hope so. I know how to pace myself; I know what will get me injured, and what will boost my performance. I also have some better ideas on how to run the marathon; for instance, how to run it fast and not hit the wall at 20 miles. This blog is the place where I will document my journey.
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