In the beginning...

26.2 miles sounds like a long ass way. I get tired driving that far. I'm not very good with the new math, but it seems like it would take about 30 minutes to drive that far doing 55. Why would a pretty good athlete even think about running that far? For fun?? I'm not a pretty good athlete, so I don't feel qualified to answer that one. Why would an overweight, former average athlete with a bum knee, stomach problems, and an aversion to doing anything early in the morning decide to do a marathon? Because I have to. I'm not sure why, but I have to. Nobody is making me, but I feel that this is something that has to be done. I've watched my buddy Pascal finish marathons and wear the finisher t-shirt and decided I need one. Or a bunch. I've been trying to convince some of my buffet buddies to become part of my ka-tet and start training, but so far, I've only got one taker. Aaron, I hope you are serious! I am starting as close to zero as a person could possibly be physically. Last year I ran most of 3 5K races, but right now, 5K might as well be a marathon. I've started walking and riding a bike the last couple of weeks, but right now it is hard going. Walking makes my knees hurt and riding a bike makes my chest hurt. But I can't stop. I've decided to run the Route 66 marathon in November, come hell or huge waistline. I weigh a svelte 252 right now, and I feel like I need to weigh around 210 to keep from killing myself in the marathon. I've decided to follow the Galloway marathon program, because I've come to grips with the fact that I'm not running to win prizes or beat people. Galloway's run/walk program seems to be the most enjoyable way of running the marathon, and I think the less pain there is involved, the more likely I will be to stick with it. Tonight I walked about 40 minutes, and my ITB was hurting the whole time. I need to start doing the stretches from the physical therapist again. I also need to add a lot of strength. I guess you have to start somewhere, huh? More to come tomorrow....