Why You Should Train For A Marathon

Last October, I ran my first marathon, completing the Chicago Marathon in 4 hours 36 minutes (and some seconds, but who's counting?). I am currently training for my second Chicago Marathon, and I'm hoping to improve on my time from last year. In training for and successfully completing last year's marathon, I gained some wisdom and insight into the value of taking on this endeavor, so I thought I would share my 5 reasons that you, too, should train for a marathon.

1. IT'S HARD! You can't just decide to run 26.2 miles one day and just do it (Nike slogans be damned!). In fact, most people can't run 2 or 3 miles without working up to it. If marathons were easy, no one would pay much attention to them. I followed a challenging but doable 18 week program that prepared me to run more than 10 miles farther than I had ever run in my life. And even with all that training, the last 6 or 7 miles of that marathon were BRUTAL! But I did it, and the fist pump as I crossed the finish line was both a celebration of accomplishment and a gesture of defiance at my own body's telling me that I couldn't do it.
2. HAAGEN-DAZS CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH ICE CREAM! Packing 1050 calories in a 14 ounce container, this, the official food of Heaven, is one of the rewards of running anywhere from 25 to 50 miles a week, depending on which point of training you're at. For me, running 40 miles in a week burns about 5320 calories, in addition to the 16,835 calories I burn breathing, walking my dog, and being a funny guy. Those extra calories burned running allow me to eat in ways a man should not be able to eat without expanding his belly into the next zip code. By the way, I also bought big tubs of Dean's Fannie Mae Mint Meltaway and Dean's Chocolate Moose Tracks ice creams today. After all, a 40-year-old needs a balanced diet!
3. TRAINING FOR A MARATHON BUILDS CHARACTER! Now, that sounds trite, but allow me to expound. My 18-week odyssey through the Hal Higdon marathon training program was NOT smooth sailing. Sure, I had my good runs and even good weeks. But I had days where my couch potato genes were in full battle with my training genes. Needless to say, had I given in to my body's desire to sit it out on those hot summer days, I would not have finished the marathon in October. Also, training for a marathon hurts. It really hurts! Almost every runner I know has pain issues, and mine were focused in my shins. Shin splints were my constant companion as I trained for October glory. A bone scan even revealed a stress fracture in my left leg. But by learning some new stretches and taking plenty of Advil (sorry kidneys!), I managed to work through the pain and experience what the Cubs can only dream of - October success!
4. YOU GAIN NEW RELATIONSHIPS! Or at least some relationships you have change for the better. A common bond is shared by people with a common goal, and runners are no exception. During my training, I ran with 7 or 8 different people, as well as with the 8th grade basketball team I coach. I also began to "talk running" with people I knew from church, school, family, and other arenas of my life, many of whom I had never really talked to in depth before. And I ran the whole marathon with one of my training partners, which made the race day a lot more enjoyable.
   
5. YOU CAN PERFORM GREAT FEATS! Yesterday, after running 14.1 miles, I went home, showered, and brought my dog over to a friend's house and hooked him up to a tie-out on the lawn. Moments later, a cat ran through some tall grass about 80 feet in front of my beagle Sam, and he tore off after it, breaking his collar and escaping the safety of the tie-out. I spent the next 40 minutes, most of them in dusk, frantically running over grass, through weeds, in mosquito and deerfly infested woods, through bramble and branches that tripped and scratched me (I found 3 scratches and a bump on my head today), screaming for my Sam to come back to me. And thank God, with some help from a friend, I got him back. As I brought Sam back to my car, I realized that even after running 14 miles, I did not even notice the extra 2 or 3 miles I put in chasing my dog in a pair of loose Crocs over terrible terrain while bloodsucking insects attacked and darkness approached. My marathon training has transformed me into Batman! And that's pretty cool!