"Honey, I think I am going to run a marathon," I still remember saying those words to my wife, and the look of shock she gave me in response. It was a sunny day in October 1994, and the marathon I planned on running was December 2nd.
First, let me give you a little background, so you will understand why a statement like this surprised my wife. I am enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and at the time was stationed onboard a submarine in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Submarine duty, in case you don't know, usually doesn't promote such activities as running, the hours are long and theirs not much room for training, especially while you"re underway. My wife and I had been married almost three years. In those three years, I had never even broached the subject of running, much less running a marathon, mainly because the ideal had never crossed my mind. after an extremely hard day, I was relaxing on our couch, watching TV. There it was, an advertisement for the Honolulu Marathon, I thought, why not? Exercise, fresh air and stress relief, I couldn't ask for much more.
I will be the first to admit that my training plan was not adequate. I started out with short runs normally two to three miles and slowly worked my way up to fifteen miles on my long days. Well, let me tell you fifteen miles a day is not much compared to the twenty six point two, I would need to run, if I wanted to complete the marathon. On the bright side of all this running was the time I could spend with my daughter. I had purchased a jogging stroller so I could take her with me on my long runs. I am confident she enjoyed those Saturday morning runs as much as I did.
Well, the big day finally arrived. I wasn't as prepared as I should have been but I couldn't wait to get started. The energy was electrifying and almost overwhelming. It's an amazing feeling to be running with over thirty thousand people. I was running along feeling pretty good until I hit the sixteen-mile mark.