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October 15, 2005
My Introduction
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dennis, and I am about to embark upon the most difficult journey in my life – the running of a marathon. What is a marathon, you ask? Most people describe it as a life-changing event. It consists of running, walking and/or crawling 26.2 miles. My plan with this blog is to discuss the details of my training for the event, and then describe in painful detail the actual running of the marathon. Most of you will ask, “Why would someone want to run a marathon?� I will, over the course of the next 20 plus weeks, give you 26.2 reasons why I am doing this event.
I may frequently use the term “we� during this blog. The “we� part of this is my brother, David, who is planning on running the marathon with me. It will be the first marathon for both of us, and having the company for some of the longer training runs will be really great. I am a triathlete as well as a runner, he is a runner only. We are very, very competitive with each other, and have the whole “triathlete vs the runner� thing going. So far the score is “triathlete� three wins, the “runner� two wins.
The marathon we will be running is the Napa Valley Marathon, on March 5, 2006. We picked this event mostly because it is relatively close, and the date fits well with our training schedules (Dave is a farmer, and has more time to train in the winter, and my triathlon training schedule is lighter during the winter also).
www.napa-marathon.com
Posted by Dennis at October 15, 2005 10:38 AM
Comments
Hey Dennis! Congrats on your decision to do a marathon!! I'll be your cheerleader from the cyberspace sidelines!! My husband and I did the Napa Valley Marathon this year. It was my third marathon, and probably my favorite except that I was sorta injured and thats a long story for another time! Don't be too worried about the hills. I think the key to training is to get the long runs in and don't be afraid of them. I remember being really afraid of the "20 mile mark" don't be, how does the saying go....50% of it is 90% mental!!! Yogi Berra is in ther somewhere! Keep up the good work!!
Posted by: Lynn at October 30, 2005 08:17 PM
Lynn,
Thanks for the words of encouragement. This should be an interesting journey.
Dennis
Posted by: Dennis at October 31, 2005 09:06 PM
Hi Dennis,
Boy, I admire you. I'm about where you are the day you were on the stairmaster at the gym. I was pretty active B.C. (Before Children) and my job, commute, and family have hindered that and I've slowly turned into a puddle. I think I'm ready to make the turn, so I'll check in for encouragement.
Laurie
Posted by: Laurie at August 7, 2007 11:26 AM
Hi Laurie,
Thanks for the comments - I know all about the "Before Children" syndrome, and the job and commute deal - I worked in Red Bluff for 5 years, and lived in Chico - and I did not enjoy that commute. If I can do anything to help encourage your "transformation" back to an athlete, just let me know. I seems that one of the critical keys to starting a new exercise program is to not make any serious mistakes - such as running in junk shoes, or overtraining.
Hopefully you will enjoy your blogging experiance, see you on the boards!!!
Dennis
Posted by: Dennis at August 7, 2007 07:06 PM