The Marathon: 26.22 miles, or 26 miles & 385 yds., or 42.195 km

by Maria Torres


Exactly one week ago today, my cousin Stacy called and said she had decided to run the Route 66 marathon this November in Tulsa. I told her how excited I was for her, and how it was my dream to one day run a marathon...after that, it was all over. "Why not now?" she asked. After dishing out a couple of excuses which were clearly not going to deter her, I started seriously thinking about it. Why not now?

My last year of college, I got about halfway through training for one. After doing the Tulsa Run in October of that year and turning 21 the month after that, I just lost interest. I wanted someone to train with and race with, neither of which I had. I needed a training partner who was counting on me and who could give me the extra motivation when I needed it.

I've always really enjoyed running, but about a year ago I took a hiatus from it and just never got back into it. It's hard to start back when you know it'll take a few weeks before running starts to feel good again. So last Thursday, I spent pretty much the whole day in my work-out clothes trying to do every single tiny thing I could think of to put it off. But I finally had to force myself to go, and it was not pleasant. I ran for 38 minutes, about 20 of which I was running a little bent to the right trying to get a side cramp to go away. I was beat, but Sooie (my puppy) of course had a great time and was probably ready to run 26.2 miles right then!

Despite Thursday's run, I knew I needed to get back out and run Friday before my official 18-week training program began on Monday. I had a GREAT run on Friday, to my surprise--4.2 miles and I could have kept going. Being able to remember what I love so much about running was just the encouragement I needed to fully commit to running the marathon.

I did a 6 hour hike up to Blue Lake in Telluride, CO, on Saturday, which was infinitely harder than any run I did this past week. Ask me July 26th (my 7-mile run) though, and I might be singing a different tune. I have run 15.38 miles so far since last week, and that will be 18.38 by tonight :) One of the best parts about this is the fact that Sooie has another outlet for all of her energy. It is impossible for an 11 month old puppy to get enough exercise, but every little bit helps. As the runs become longer with each passing week, my little running partner will become better behaved. That in and of itself is worth it!

My dad (Stephen) hasn't completely committed to running with us yet, but then again he already ran a marathon (White Rock in Dallas) a while back. Stacy and I are doing everything we can to persuade him to join us though :) I wonder if he could even still do it. I don't know, in his old age, it might be impossible (that's for you Dad if you're reading this. hehehe).

Thanks for reading and keep checking back for updates, pictures, etc.! Wish me luck!