My First Marathon - Chicago

by Robert
(Illinois)

After signing up for a college marathon training class, I decided to start running two weeks before the class started. On the first day class, the instructor explained that the goal of the class was not to run a marathon until a year's worth of training. I felt cheated. So after increasing my weekly mileage by 10% a week, and with two and half months before the Chicago Marathon I thought I was not going to be denied. The night before the marathon, I celebrated my brother's wedding. Nobody told me dehydration and running a marathon don't mix. I ran like the wind, the first twenty miles was under a seven minute pace, then I crashed resulting in 3:15 marathon. That was my first marathon.