Savoring the Marathon:
How to Run and Love Your First Marathon
by Melissa Field

Some runners will never run a marathon.  Some runners will run one marathon and vow to never run so far again.  I set out to fall in love with 26.2 miles, and on a cold day in November, that is exactly what I did.

The experience of running your first marathon can never be replicated.  There are few moments in life that will require checking every fear at the door and fiercely plowing forward without a guaranteed outcome.  This is what it feels like to run your first marathon, and it is for this reason that the distance becomes synonymous with words like courage and determination.  It is for this reason that 26.2 changes every life it touches.

I decided to tackle my first marathon after years as a runner, after running every shorter distance, and after growing into myself both as a runner and as a person.  It required 6 months of running or cross training nearly everyday.  At times training felt like a part-time job, taking up as many as 15-20 hours per week.  I changed what I ate and how much I slept.  I ran through multiple seasons and states, on roads, paths, treadmills, and tracks, through every emotion, and at every time of the day.  I rarely missed a run.  I changed my entire life for the success of one day, for the love of one race.  Never before had I felt so committed and never before had I felt so happy.

Before the marathon I ran alone, but when I met my running buddy Joe in June, my solo running philosophy changed.  Joe and I had completed a similar number of races ranging from 5ks to half marathons, but felt unsure about the marathon.  Even diehard runners wonder if they're cut out for 26.2 miles and Joe and I were no exception.  We eventually convinced each other and plunged ahead by committing to the Philadelphia Marathon for 2008.  On that day, we turned an individual sport into a team sport.  In the months that followed, we learned more about each other and friendship than I had ever anticipated. 

There are books, columns, and articles galore about training for and running your first marathon, but the best advice I got came from a professor who told me to "savor the marathon."  Joe and I did not run at the same pace but we compromised on pace because we shared the same philosophy, which Julie Isphording, marathon winner, summed up best as, "Run often and run long, but never outrun your joy of running." 

Running is a joy.  It's a gift to be healthy and strong enough to conquer 26.2 miles.  It is a celebration of the best that you are.  If you have thought about tackling your first marathon in the future, let go of your desire to finish at a certain pace, invite your friends and family to watch, and consider teaming up with another runner.  Let your first marathon be a celebration and savor it because there's nothing better than looking back and saying, "I wouldn't have changed a thing."