I saw this qoute online today at the Chicago Tribune:

"Most people don't understand how hard it is to run 26.2 miles," said DePaul head track and cross-country coach Patrick Savage.

I can personally tell you, running a marathon is not that hard.  If you can run 3-4 miles straight, then you are about 18 weeks of training away from finishing your first marathon.  If you can run even a single mile straight, then you are about 30 weeks away. 

The hardest thing for most people to learn about marathon training is that it really is only as hard as making an appointment with yourself 4 times a week for those 18 (or 30) weeks and keeping it.  Now we all come up with reasons why we can't run today, so let me make my views on the three most common reasons I am told by those who are new to running around me:

• I can't run because it is raining out - Simple, put on a hat and a wind breaker and run anyway.  Trust me, it won't hurt you.  That is not to say it is run, but the point is to finish the marathon.
• I can't run because I did not have time today - Also very easy, before you go to bed, run.  I have started 2 hour runs after midnight before.  The lack of sleep will annoy/pain you, but knowing that you will run no matter what will allow you to handle your schedule better.
• I can't run because my [foot, knee, shin, etc.] hurts - So this is the hard one.  One thing that all runners learn at some point is that there is no relation to the pain you feel to medical problem you need to worry about.  We ALL have our body hurting and I remember runs where I could not enter a 'normal' running gait for the first half-mile becaue my right-knee hurt too bad, but you should still do your miles.  If you have questions on this, talk to a sports medicene doctor, someone who understands these kinds of issues. Your normal 'GP' doctor is not the person to consult here (unless he/she is also an endurence runner).

I know that everyone who is NOT running every run they planned feels they have a solid excuse for missing 'that one run', but we all are having or had at one point the same problems, the same pains, and the same discomfort as you are and made it through.

The person next to you at that 5k or 10k race that seems to be a machine while you are about to keel over in pain...  He is feeling it.  And in his head, his thoughts are "I am about to die, how is that person next to me still going?".  Take pride in knowing that dispite what you feel, you look like a machine to those around you.