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A Few Tips and Thoughts for the First-Timer

In this event, I am certainly no expert, having completed my first marathon, the ATT Austin Marathon, a few weeks ago (2/17/2008). But being a reasonably competent athlete, I found the training process challenging, fascinating at times and the entire process, including the race itself, very rewarding, such that I am even contemplating the Austin Distance Challenge in the fall, six runs (a better term than "race," certainly in my case) ranging from 10km (6.2 miles) to next year's marathon. That being said, I did complete the entire marathon in just over 5 hours with a good standing overall, especially for my Super Clydesdale (226 lbs+) category. The following are some expected and unexpected observations and revelations along the way:

TRAINING: Prior to this challenge, I had run casually over the past several years, at least the Austin Capitol 10K each year, but had spent most of my time over the past decade doing weight training along with cardio-vascular work on various gym equipment. Although I had lifted my entire adult life, with good success and results, the inevitable creep of years and pounds as I encroached on my mid-40's led me to still be in reasonably good shape, but far bigger and heavier than I wanted to be, muscle or not, as I moved closer to my 50's.

In other related events, my last company ran out of money near the end of last year. From previous experience, I knew that the chances of getting a reasonably well-paying job in 2007 were slim and that my job search would continue into the new year. Knowing that I would have considerable time during the day with a sanity-driven need for a focal point, I looked into running the marathon. Prior to this, I ran the San Diego Half-Marathon in the early 90's to celebrate my 30th birthday, then ran it again three years later to celebrate a successful return from knee surgery. Each of those times, I found the miles between 10 and 13 to be exhausting and finished each run in about two hours, each time swearing to never even consider running twice as far at one time. So, with the work situation what it was, I also sensed that there would be an ongoing sense of satisfaction in the training, namely I could not control when the right company agreed to hire me for a job that looked outwardly perfect for all concerned, but I could control logging the training miles successfully every week.

TRAINING PROGRAM: Many individuals prefer a group approach to challenging activities;

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