How my love for marathons began

It seems just like yesterday, actually 5 years ago, that I came up with the bright idea of running my first marathon. Little did I know the amount of preperation that would be involved in training for a marathon. I decided to run in the Jacksonville Bank Marathon in December 2003. I heard that marathons could be addicting, but I assured Lori (my wife) that this was a "one and done" race. I play in an adult flag football league each fall, which severly hampered my time dedicated to training. I incur quite a few injuries playing quarterback for our flag football team. I tend to rely more on my legs than my arm. I did not do as much research as I should have before I started training. I had no idea how important my diet and the amount of rest I got would be during training. I also did not buy a good pair of shoes that comformed to the my feet. I began to experience a tremendous amount of pain on the bottom of my feet during training runs. I had decided to run a half marathon in Boston Georgia on Halloween weekend to prepare for the actual marathon in December. After visiting the doctor, I was diagnosed with a case of plantar fasciatus. The pain got so intense, that I had to to make a decision to run the half marathon and rest til my foot was better or keep training for the marathon and my body break down before I actually got to the race. I decided to run the half marathon and had a great time. I wasn't sure if I would try again for a marathon, but I got the itch again in the spring. I decided to try again for the Jacksonville Marathon. This time I ate better, got more rest, and bought a good pair of shoes that were right for my type of feet. I put in the proper training and went in with the goal of finishing in 4 hours. I heard that 4 hours was a good time for running a marathon. I new I had to beat the time Oprah ran her marathon in. No way I was going to get beat by Oprah. Lori likes watching Oprah, so I heard all about the marathon she ran. The race went well in Jacksonville. I didn't stop at all during the race and finished in 4 hours and 16 minutes. I didn't meet my goal of 4 hours, but I did beat Oprah's time. I never did hit the wall during the race either. When I initially finished, I said I was never doing one of these again. After about a week, I felt really down. I wasn't training and I didn't have a schedule telling what I was supposed to run each day. I felt like I didn't have a purpose when it came to running. It was such a rush crossing the finish line that I wanted to experience that again and again. That is where the addiction was born. I am in such good shape when I am training and I feel so good. It really helps me clear my mind. I will give some more insight as to what I experience as I train and run the races.