I'm so excited about this running plan and I can't wait to really get into the thick of training but at the same time most of my running is tainted just a little bit by guilt.
My friends are walkers. I am still a walker and I feel guilty about wanting to run. The whole time I've been in marathon training, as a coach and a participant, part of the plan was to convince people that walking was OK. There was no need to run. A marathon is a marathon regardless of the time it takes to finish. I feel almost like I am betraying my history because I want to run.
I know that there isn't anything wrong with walking and there isn't anything wrong with wanting to get faster and become a runner but it still feels a little bit like by doing this I'm letting all of those other people know that I was lying when I said that walking was good enough.
I haven't embraced running enough to want to run a marathon. I still think that's a little bit crazy. I want more than anything to run a half-marathon. My first organized event was the Philadelphia Distance Run in 2002. I was a walker -- and not even the slowest walker -- but I was completely discouraged by being left in the dust by the masses. I can still remember that I felt like a party crasher that day even though finishing that race was a huge thing for me. I really want to run that whole race this year and eradicate that memory.
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