Mister Pickles Marathon Stretch

Last year, while waiting in line for a portable toilet outside a U.S. Cellular Field, a buddy and I made a "before we turn 30" proposition. We apparently had too much to drink before the game...

The prop: we both run the 2007 Chicago Marathon (Oct . If I don't run, I pay his wife $500. If he doesn't run, he pays my wife $500. And, if we both bag it, the wives still get their payday. There are no stakes on finishing or time. Also, an injury would null the bet.

So, you can see the motivation to run it is there. You could argue that I just have to pass the start line and you'd be right. Before we started training, I kept stating that all I have to do is make it to mile 6 where there's a good bar that was my old stomping ground. However tempting that would be, it's becoming a personal challenge for both of us. We're going to try to finish it. That's our goal.

I began pre-training, getting up to 30 min running without stopping, in April and now have started formal training. This week's long run was 6 miles, almost a quarter marathon, and wasn't terrible. I fell into the zone at about 3 miles and it became automatic. Next week, we up the distance to 7 and then retreat to 5 (here's the long run schedule we're following). It's going to be interesting.

I track my runs with the Nike+ iPod, which is a great tool if you already have an iPod Nano. It has a pedometer that sits in your shoe and connects wirelessly to your Nano via a small attachment. When you finish your runs, it uploads them at sync to the Nike+ website, where it tracks your individual runs and history. So, it's basically a running journal.

When I hit a total of 50 miles recorded, the site added features that allow me to share my runs to some extent. I've added those features to my blog. The furthest run, which currently is yesterdays 6 miles, and then my last five. They alluded to more features when I hit 100 miles, so perhaps I'll be able to share more or make it more interesting. I'm at 62.5 miles now since I got the thing in early May. I'll probably hit 100 in early July, so we'll see.

Wish me luck towards my goal of completing the marathon and if you want to see my progress, drop by. If I'm slacking and there have been no runs for awhile, kick me. I need to do this!