Marathon training season is here!

“I’ll never do that again!"…

”Grete Waitz, after winning the first of nine New York City Marathons

Hmm, those words sound familiar.

Today is the launch of my training for the Chicago Marathon.  It’s a rekindling of a love affair that I broke off last fall and never fully got over.  So in October, I’m heading back again to where I was burned—okay make that slowly roasted—and still am looking forward to the same excitement I’ve enjoyed running the streets of Chicago for the last decade.

Between now and race day are hundreds of miles to run, hours of cross training, dozens of denied desserts, covering up my post-long run stiffness and hobbling, and renewed enthusiasm for light-colored urine output.  Just as every Olympian daily rehearses over and over in their minds their races in Bejing, I’m stoked about the marathon celebration in Grant Park in October.

Preparing for my first few marathons, I used to feel as excited as a kid waiting for Santa.  Hyper and ready to burst on the inside, I wonder if it shows to others on the outside.  But the reality is 15 marathons later, I still get just as excited as if for preparing the first.

I’ll set some race goals in a month or so, but for now I’m simply looking forward to the golden time of marathon training, filled with challenges, accomplishments, setbacks, and comebacks—all before race day even arrives.

If you know others running Chicago or any fall marathon, wish them luck as they’re probably getting under way with their training and secretly squirming with excitement on the inside.  Also, invite them to join the Chicago Marathon Lounge Group or to form a new Lounge group for their race.

Comments

[Lisa]

I wish you well, Tom! I will be taking this year off from Chicago, as I need some time away from her. ;) I'm sure I'll run her again, though.

[Viv]

Good luck with the training, Tom!

[InTheFastLane]

You just about summed up my experience and my thoughts. I was excited to begin yesterday, to have a goal and a set plan. But, it is also tempered by the realization that on race day, anything can happen and I need to realize that as Nike said, "There is no finish line." It is not necessarily about the end, the crossing of the line in 18 weeks, as it is about the journey I will take to get there. But, as I laid near Buckingham fountain last year, and my husband finally found me, and I thought about the fact that there was no way that I would have run the Boston qualifier I was seeking on that day, I told him "I am just like the Cubs, just wait until next year."

[Jamie]

Good luck with Training Tom! I'll be there in October cheering for you from the sidelines :) Hopefully I'll make my return in 2009.

[Debbie]

Good Luck Tom!! I will be running Chicago too....as my first marathon!

[William carter]

HI Tom

Best of luck, but than again you know that it is not really about that. It is much more about putting in your time. Long slow distance, intervals, marathon pace runs, etc. are what will get you through and in a time that is acceptable to you. But than again, you know all this and even though it has been a while the marathon experience is truly unforgettable.

Again, best of luck and I will be following along with your training.

[Felice]

Good luck with the training! I hope you don't ever lose the excitement of preparing for a race. It is a great feeling, isn't it?

[Ben C]

Good luck, Tom! One of the things on my "life list" of Marathon Accomplishments is to run a huge marathon, just for the spectacle of it all. And Chicago is a great city (if you ignore the fact that the Bears play there.) Have a great time.