food for finance: occupy marathon

(healthy) food for finance is a column where we talk about how fitness and finance correlate with each other. join us on our journey to be both physically and financially fit.

Ever since writing a story on paper about being the 99% or 1% became the "in" thing to do, I wanted to be "in" and do one. The marathon was perfect! Research shows that anywhere from .1% to 2% of the world's population ever completes a full marathon. So I took the average and came up with 1% for the sake of my picture! We ARE the 1%!

Here is where I got that info: Memphis Runners Track Club said...

Soooo....we did a search to see what percent of people run a marathon and this is what we found on more than one site:

"Depending on who you ask, people who have completed a marathon make up anywhere between 0.1% and 2% of the world’s population. I had sort of dismissed that statistic as bunk and folklore until I stumbled upon this Web site, which has all sorts of interesting statistics about marathon finishes in the United States.
There were 382,000 marathon finishes in 2005. Guesstimating the U.S. population at 295 million in that year, it works out to about .13% (and you have to take into account that many of the people who finished were not first-time marathoners). These numbers are incredibly rough, but at the very least they don’t completely dispel the 0.1% statistic most often quoted by anyone who has ever run a marathon."

I never wanted to do a full marathon. Kyle signed up back in April to do the St. Jude full marathon in December of 2011. I created a monster! Kyle went from running a 45 minute 5k in 2007 to running a full marathon in 2011. I am so proud of him!

 Before the big race.

I told Kyle I did not want to do it. So to make sense, I trained with him. Say what? Why in the world would I do that? I figured I could at least train and if I changed my mind, I could then sign up last minute. I wanted to see how it felt to run more than 13.1 miles (I've done a ton of half marathons) before I signed up for the full 26.2.

Before the race when life was good.

So, I ran 14 miles...it wasn't too bad. Then I ran a 16 mile run with him. I still felt good. Ok, ok, I'll sign up. OH NO-I went to sign up and it was capped out!?! Here I am, running 16 miles for nothing. I was not happy.

 About to start.

So I waited it out. I just knew that someone would get injured and I could get their bib number. So I waited and waited.

 April did the half! Go girl!

Finally, the day before the race, I got a bib number from someone that injured themselves training. A DAY BEFORE! I only had 24 hours to mentally prepare for 26.2 miles. I had lost it!

Our cheerleaders! Jen-Leon-Marianna. Such funny signs! All the runners loved them! 

Not only did I have 1 day to mentally prepare for the race, I also did 2 other race no-no's. I ran in new shoes and new shorts! I honestly think I left my brain somewhere that week. The good news is that my new shoes were awesome and I did not get a single blister. My shorts were great too! I don't recommend anyone doing what I did!

At mile 10 and feeling great. 

At every mile I would reassess myself and see how I was.  If I felt bad at the split, I would just do the half. But I decided to complete the full with Kyle.

Here comes Lauren and I at mile 17. I look ok here.

Oh but look at this picture. Not so good!

My friend Marianna lives at mile 17 and she had cheering station for us. I even decided to go up to her house and use the bathroom. I ate something and went on my way. Kyle was a little ahead of me as Lauren and I decided to walk/run because we both were hurting at mile 14. I told Kyle to go on! I also felt VERY safe running with Lauren because she's a doctor! I had all my bases covered!

Mile 17 cheerleaders were the best!

Around mile 18 Lauren and I saw Kyle walking. He joined us. He started to hurt. He knew he needed to slow down and save himself for the next 8 miles. So the 3 of us walked/ran. Mile 19 to mile 26.2 was miserable! I hated it. Then I saw a sign that said "you chose your pain, we didn't" and it was true. If I could only get through 8 more miles, I'd be done. But the kids that have cancer can't say that. They did not choose to have pain. That is the only thing that got me through it because I was hurting. We started out at 11 minute mile pace and ended up doing a 13 minute mile pace because of the walking. But that does not matter. WE DID IT!

YAY! We are the 1%. Our official time was 5 hours and 48 minutes. Our goal was to finish.



I told Kyle that I will never do another marathon again. One and done. 1st and last. I think I know how it feels to be old and it's not pretty! But you never know what the future holds. I might eat my words. Congrats to us! Thanks to all our cheerleaders, including my in-laws!

I compared the pain I felt afterwards to the flu. I ached all over. I did not feel good lying down or standing up. I hurt either way. But the pain finally subsided and Kyle and I even went to our friend Randi's Rum Ball fest that very night. It is doable! No pain, no gain right?!