Starting up...

The Chicago Marathon isn't until October 13, 2013.

Usually, people start training 16 weeks before the marathon takes place.

I already run 6 miles, 4 times a week.  So, I thought I'd do some preliminary training.

When we were training for the half marathon, I'd run 6 miles, 2 times a week.  Then I'd do 1 eight mile run and then do a 10 or 12 mile run.  It was all pretty loose.

Sometimes I would run the long miles, sometimes I wouldn't.  Sometimes I would 8 miles, twice a week and then do a 10 mile run.

I always ran 3 or 4 miles a week.  Sometimes I ran 5 times a week.  Sometimes I ran 6 times a week.

Now that we're doing the marathon, I've decided to get a little more organized.  I want to get the mileage on my legs so that I'm well prepared and ready to run for 4 hours without any problems.

I researched several programs and several books and finally decided on this book, The Non Runner's Marathon Trainer.   Even though I am a runner and have been running for 4 years, it was the best rated book and hundreds of people stated it was the best marathon training book out there.

I started reading it on Friday and didn't put it down until I was 80% done with it.

It really taught me tons.

I was happy to know that 90% of the things I was doing was correct.  But, there were things I needed to do to improve.  I need to hydrate better.  I need to eat better.  And, I need to get on a more disciplined running schedule.

I took out my iPad and filled out my running schedule for the next 3 months.

Here's what it looks like:  (Bear in mind, I have a weird job and work schedule right now.  So, it looks strange that my long runs are on Monday.)

Wednesday - 5 Miles
Thursday - 6 Miles  (This will increase to 8 miles in 2 weeks)
Saturday - 5 Miles
Monday - 10 miles

Every Monday, I'll bump up my miles by one mile until I get to 18 miles.  There will be a few weeks where I'll do 16 miles 2 weeks in a row.  Once I get to 18 miles, that's the highest I'll go for awhile.  Again, I'm just trying to get the mileage on my legs.  I'll taper down and then ramp it back up in the spring.

On Monday, I did my 10 miler.  It's the longest run I've done since the half marathon at the end of September.  It felt good.  My legs felt fine and I used a few of the mental exercises and tricks that they taught in the Non Runners Marathon Trainer book.

Today I'll only have to run 5 miles.  I've been running at least 6 miles every time I've run for the past 2 years.  It'll feel weird running a mile less than normal.  I'm looking forward to it.

Here we go...

I'm running a marathon.

I've been running for a few years and have run 2 half marathons, a 10K and a handful of 5K's.  Throughout most that time I had no desire to run a full marathon.

People would always ask, "So, are you going to run a marathon next?" and I would say, "No Way!"

I had no desire to do it.

The first thought that went through my mind when my wife/running partner and I crossed the finish line of our first half marathon was, There's no way I'd ever want to double this.

Not, "Hooray, I just finished a half marathon!" or "I just finished a huge race and had a great time!"

Nope, my first thought was, I don't want to ever run longer than this.

That half marathon was the Chicago Half Marathon in 2011.

This year,  my wife Jeannie and I ran the Chicago Half Marathon again and the first thought after I crossed the finish line was, I could keep going.

That feeling shocked me.  It was the first time I ever thought, I think I can do it.  I think I can run a marathon.

A week ago, my friend Brett and I were on our computers and he looked up and said, "Just so you know, I'm going to sign up to run the Chicago Marathon this year, if you want to do it."

I took a deep breath and said, "I'll do it."

My wife walked into the room and he said the same thing to her.  Without hearing how I had responded, Jeannie said, "Okay, I'll do sign up too."

So, we're doing it.

We're running a marathon.

Crazy.

Exciting.