What has brought you here? Why do you want to run a marathon? Why are you training for a marathon?
Are you crazy? Most of us are.
Actually the number of marathon finishers have been growing in the thousands every year in the U.S. and all over the world, and now that people are just interested in finishing a marathon instead of trying to win a marathon, the popularity of the sport will eventually grow much more in the future. Marathon races are lowering their qualifying times every year, so that they could have more participants. Up until two years ago, in 2007, the Tokyo International Marathon had one of the toughest qualifying times just to enter it. This year there were over 100,000 applicants, unfortunately due to traffic safety they could only accept 50,000 on a first-come first-serve basis. Now, runners from the ages of 18 up to 94 are finishing marathons year after year. Instead of training 6 days a week with speedwork and weight training, finishers are just training one day a week to prepare for their marathons. Instead of running the full 26.2 miles, most are now walking instead of running the full course. Heck, some are even packing cans of beer around their waist so they can drink it as energy drinks, and others I've seen running into McDonald's to grab a bite to eat during the actual race time. So whoever you are, whatever age you are, it doesn't matter. I believe that by putting in one workout a week before your first marathon, you will be able to complete it and continue to come back year after year for the shear pleasure of it. You will find out, by reading my posts on this website that finishing a marathon is a life-changing event. I created this site to help you and actually help myself understand why I run and train 6 days a week to run one marathon a year. I have been running marathons since 1982, and I have been running one marathon a year, consistently, for the last 11 years….. Soooo I plan to continue training for and running one marathon every year for the next 39 years. I don't say "Oh, I wish I could run a marathon" because my days of wishing are gone. With the marathon it is all about the doing. So please join me in my wonderful, and truly enlightening journey of doing and experiencing the marathon. I promise you that you definitely will not be disappointed.
