Why run a marathon? Why not?

Since I meant to start this blog a couple of week ago, I'll back track a bit with my running.

But first, an explanation.

I started this blog to chart my progress for the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 3. Since late November, I've been running a couple days a week, increasing my mileage every other week or so.

My friend and coworker Chris Gates convinced me to run the torturous 26.2 miles with him via facebook status. I don't remember what exactly it said, but it was along these lines:

Chris Gates is running the Pittsburgh Marathon, who's with him?

To which I replied something like, "I'm game, let's do this."

Now, I had never ran more than 6 miles in one go before that fateful November day. But I thought, why not? I'll be turning 21 just after the marathon, why not see how far I can push my body? 

I don't want to be one of those middle-aged guys with a paunch and a fistful of "why didn't I?" questions. I don't want my greatest athletic achievement to be a mediocre high school track and field career.

I want to take advantage of the body God's given me. I want to see what my limits are.

So that's the skinny on why I'm running. I've been asked that a lot actually. I'm not as good with communicating my intentions by talking. Now I can just refer those people to this blog.

So now I'm running. Last Sunday I did 12 miles with my friend/running partner Keith. I honestly don't remember much of the run, except for the fact that I was really hungry.

And I mean hungry. Stomach-growling-like-a-cougar hungry. Hallucinating-you're-chasing-a-plate-of-spaghetti hungry. Wouldn't-mind-running-through-the-McDonald's-Drivethru-to-grab-a-value-menu-double-cheeseburger hungry.

It was bad. Both of us only talked about food for the last 4 miles of the run. The only thing keeping me going was the fact that our end point happened to be very close to a campus dining hall.

We got through those 12 miles in 1:47 (so about nine minute splits, score!).

A yogurt, cheeseburger, chicken sandwich, grilled cheese sandwich and powerade later, I realized what we had just done.

Nearly half a marathon.

Only 14.2 miles to go.