I Registered to Run a Marathon
An unconventional runner takes on the challenge of 26.2 miles
I first knew I wanted to run a marathon when I was 12 and on my middle school’s cross country team. There’s something elusive and elite about it, and I liked the idea of being so good at running I could run for 26.2 miles. I still like the idea of being so good at running I could run for 26.2 miles, but I’m not that good at running. I’m actually pretty slow. When I was 16, I could run a mile in 8 minutes (and sustain that for three miles). Now, I can run a mile in 12 minutes on a good day, but once the mile’s over, catch me taking a little break.
In both middle school and high school, I was on the cross country team but my participation in the sport was only the precursor to basketball, which I always liked better. Because cross country was in the fall and basketball was in the winter, if I ran cross country, I didn’t have to go to basketball conditioning, which included horrible activities like weight lifting and running bleachers. No thanks. Regardless, I somewhat enjoyed running, even when my motivation to actually go on a run was a bit low.
I didn’t stick with it, though. Once I went to college, I just played pick up basketball here and there, and stopped running altogether. When I think back on it now, I don’t know why. Maybe I was burned out after 6+ years of organized sports, or college made me tired, or there were too many other fun things to do than run. I gained some weight, and then transferred colleges, tried Kayla Itsine’s Bikini Body program, and then gained some more weight. I started running again after a mental health break in my senior year of undergrad, only to stop when I got to grad school in Montana, because it was too smoky outside, and my asthma had other ideas. After I graduated with my Master’s, I moved back to Georgia, took a job teaching, lived in an awful apartment, and stopped working out altogether. I’m not saying any of this because I think weight gain is bad, but rather because it’s all important to understanding why I signed up for a marathon.
In 2021, my now-spouse, Kimberly, and I moved in together. She started doing triathlons during the pandemic and fell in love with multisport. With her encouragement, I started being active again and remembered how much I enjoyed moving. Yoga came first. I frequented a studio five(ish) times a week. The movement (and maybe the spiritual side of yoga) helped me through some tough times, but also allowed me to fully be in my body, something I avoided.
In the midst of this, I started getting sick. I’d wake up in the middle of the night with shooting pain in my abdomen that lasted for several hours. Whatever was happening also caused me to throw up (a lot), and after the throwing up I’d lay on the couch watching Survivor seasons I’ve already seen until about 6:00 AM. At that point, I’d sleep for a couple of hours before waking back up to go to work. These episodes occurred about once a month. Eventually, I was told I had acid reflux, prescribed some antacids, and sent on my merry way.
After doing yoga for about a six months, my interest in running started to come back. I ran here and there, just one or two miles. In September 2022, Kimberly encouraged me to sign up for Blue Sky Endurance Fest, a local running & swimming event. Doing that race reminded me that I like competing — not against others, but against myself. Being able to watch how I improve is so rewarding, and there’s something unmatched about race day energy.
After that, Kimberly encouraged me to sign up for Tri It For Life, a local organization that trains women for their first triathlon. From February - May 2023, I trained with a supportive group of women. After the triathlon, I wanted to keep running and was looking toward what my next race will be, so I signed up for a half-marathon in December 2023.
I trained throughout the summer and started working with a coach in August. Everything was going well until September when the whatever-was-happening in my abdomen started happening two or three days a week. I was barely eating, missing runs, and all around just having a bad time. So, I went back to the doctor, they ordered an ultrasound, and lo-and-behold I had gallstones, which meant I had to get surgery. I thought about waiting until after the half marathon, but I felt that maybe the better decision was to stop having excruiating abdominal pain, so at the end of October, a surgeon removed my gallbladder. One organ down!
This, of course, meant I couldn’t run the half marathon. I was prescribed six weeks of rest and the half was at the beginning of December. I requested a deferral and had planned to just run in it this upcoming December, but I realized I was so close to the half that maybe I could run the full marathon.
I saw the Every Woman’s Marathon on Instagram. It’s close by and has a generous time cut off. I asked Kimberly if it was ridiculous for me to sign up for a marathon because I’m too slow and weigh over 200 pounds and I haven’t run a half and she made the very good point that I was almost halfway there in October, so I did it. I signed up. And then I immediately had a crisis about how I wouldn’t have any time to write anything, and in the past year my writing practice has really improved, and oh no… but I could write a newsletter about training for the marathon?
So, I signed up for a marathon and started a newsletter.
Running On Sentences will release weekly-ish (I’m giving myself some grace, y’all) and I’ll write about running, writing, and things I think about while running. I’ll say “hi” on Tuesday mornings.
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I like where this is going!
Love your journey! And I relate as a non-athletic person with chronic pain who only got serious about exercise in her late thirties/early forties.