Running, er, Completing a Marathon

If you caught yesterday's post, you may have noticed that I would like to complete a marathon this year.

This has to be one of the most unrealistic, unattainable goals 

that I have set for myself.  So much for SMART goals.

I have a little running experience, but it is far removed from my current life.  I ran cross-country and track in high school, mostly due to a charismatic coach.  I haven't run since then.  I swim, I bike, I walk, I play water polo, all good exercise, but none of them are like running.

Nevertheless, I would like to run a marathon sometime in my life (actually running it would be best, completing it would be good enough).  This year, with the extra time I will have, seems like a good year to try.

Getting into running shape for a marathon takes a LONG time, so I started in January of this year, hoping that I might be ready for a race in October 2014.

I found a website that has a couch to marathon in 52 weeks running plan, and I started following it.  Unfortunately, I could never get past Week One without some sort of problem.  My back spasmed, then I started having pain in my shins, after that my back starting hurting again.  In between all of these problems, I would dutifully start over again on Week One, Day One, running 30 seconds and walking for 60 seconds for two miles.  It was a good workout and a couple of times I made it somewhere into Week Two (run 60 seconds, walk 90 seconds) before some pain or other would stop me.

I had just made the decision that I either needed to stay on Week 1 for 2-3 more weeks than most people, or I needed a Week 1.5 when I broke my toes.

In spite of the danger of my furniture to my running plan, my optimism (some might say stupidity) remains undeterred!

So, when a good friend itching to run a 5K tried to convince me to join her, I immediately said yes.  We have decided on the Twin Cities 5K Run/Walk on October 5, 2013.  I know I can at least walk a 5k as I walked three miles around Lake Nokomis just yesterday.

It's true that I walked those three miles in sandals as I still cannot walk without pain in sneakers, but I am sure that being able to wear closed-toe shoes will come.  Two weeks ago, I couldn't even put on sneakers without pain.  Now I can, I just can't walk in them yet.

Even humungous goals begin with small steps.  I'll do my best to keep you updated semi-infrequently as to my absolutely quixotic quest to finish a marathon.