Running the NYC Marathon ... not me, Edwin.

I am happy with my own company and I enjoy things that require solitude and disciple. I think that’s why I like to read so much; it’s just a book and me. I also like to run. I know that not every person who runs does so in solitude, but I do. I like getting out before the sun comes up and running a couple of miles or so. It is a perfect start to the day.

Although I am not the ultimate human specimen, running allows me to eat the brownie sitting in front of me as I type and stay reasonably close to my weight limits.

When someone finds out that I run occasionally they will ask if I’ve ever run a marathon. Although I haven’t run one, I have trained for two. A marathon is 26.2 miles. Training for a marathon is a tremendous amount of work. It consumes your life – from the way you eat, drink, sleep and live. A person can train for weeks and injure himself or herself and end their quest for a marathon.

That’s what happened to me the first time. I trained for months and ran the 20k warm-up race. I ran in a new pair of shoes on overpasses in Houston and I ran too fast. I injured my illiotibial band and I couldn’t run for a couple of months.

I trained for my second marathon the next year. I got up to a 17-mile long run and ran the 25k warm-up race. Then I got a job in Houston and started driving two-hours a day to work and back and had no time to train, which ended my marathon bid.

I’ve always said that I will run a marathon some day. Maybe …

I’d admire a person who takes the time and effort to train for and finish a marathon. Edwin Quarles is training for the New York City marathon and is blogging about the journey here ---> Link Check it out.