Marathon Man?

I have half-heartedly committed to run in the Steamtown marathon in October. This is something I’ve wanted to do, toyed with doing, for a number of years. This year I’ll be turning 50. Seems like an added reason to try it.

I say “try it,” not “do it.” That’s a problem. I’m not fully on-board with this yet. Still testing the waters. What if I get tired of the training? What if I lose heart?

My cover now is injury. That’s a legitimate excuse for dropping out, right? I say to myself doubtfully, well, I’ll try, if my joints hold up, but I’m not sure they will. This weekend I said this to my parents, half to cover myself, and half to ease them into the idea of me running a marathon. I hadn’t planned on telling them anything. I had told Lori of my tentative plan, and sworn her to secrecy, but she forgot and told my mother!

My mother’s reaction was surprisingly positive, considering her propensity to worry. “Well, it’s a goal,” she said. “If you want to try it I’ll support you.” I don’t think she even said “Be careful.” My father’s reaction was similar. They respect my running, and have for some time. My father has even asked me in the past whether I ever thought about running a marathon. The idea intrigues him.

I wouldn’t even have considered it up until about two months ago. For the past several months, maybe a year, until then, my running had been desultory; I had felt heavy, sluggish. I wasn’t enjoying running much at all. Of late, though, there’s been a change for the better. I don’t know what occasioned it—was it slowing down my pace? Losing a few pounds? For whatever reason, I began to feel a marked improvement and, well, I ran with it. As I started to feel better and better, Steamtown began to seem like a real possibility. I looked up Hal Higdon’s training plan for novice marathoners on the Web and saw that I was just in time to start training, so I fell into it.

Already, I’m in the middle of the fourth week. It hasn’t even grown hard yet, but already, I’ve had to fight off some internal resistance. What do I want to do this for? I’ve asked myself. It’s too much of a commitment, I’ve complained. I don’t feel like it. I’ve anticipated other people voicing the same thoughts. But so far, I’ve made the effort to stick to the training, and I think that with every week I put in, my commitment will grow along with my investment.