Zero to Marathon

By Jerry Kochman

On December 31, 1997 I gave up smoking cigarettes one more time. That statement alone is revealing in its self about my resolve. However, back in October I started running sort of. I ran a 5-kilometer road race in October, a 5-mile race in November and 2 more 5 K’s in December. Mind you I did absolutely no training in between. I had a sneaky suspicion that the smoking was affecting my ability to run. So I had decided I needed to give up either smoking or running.

In January I ran three times and only one of those was a race. So in February using some of my best logic I decided to sign up for the Greater Hartford Marathon. I figured that since I had run 5 miles I could run the Polar Bear Run (7.66 miles) that month. If I could run 7.66 miles I assumed I could finish a half-marathon, and since I could finish a half-marathon I knew I could run a whole marathon. I ran that 7.66-mile race on a beautiful February day and finished in 1 hour and 36 minutes.

It was at this point I bought several books on marathon training, bought a heart rate monitor, and joined up with the Beginners Running Forum at Runners World on-line. I read, planned, calculated and developed a training program for achieving my goal. All of a sudden I realized that I was missing one important factor, I needed to actually run. In February I had several weeks that I ran 3 times. In March I ran a 10-mile training run and had one week I ran a total of 15 miles. In April I did an 11-mile training run and almost broke 20 miles in one week. Also in April I ran my first 10K race. It took me until the end of May to actually break that 20-mile bearer. The run that put me over put me out for a week. I came down with a case of heat exhaustion that turned into some type of virus. As A result I missed my target half-marathon. Once I was back on the road I saw I had only 18 weeks left until my marathon. My training got serious at this point. I was now running 3 – 4 times a week with distances of over 20 miles most weeks. When I bought new sneakers the kid at the running store told me with a 20-mile a week base and a long run of 11 miles I should not attempt a marathon. That gave me the final push I needed.

In July I ran an 8-mile race, three minutes faster then the 7.66 miler 6 months earlier. In August I knocked 2 minutes off my 10K time. I also ran long runs of 14, 14.5, and 18.3 miles. In September I ran a 20K race with Khalid Khannouchi, he only beat me by 93 minutes on his way to a world record (57:37). At the end of the month I ran a 23-mile training run. It was then that I know I was in over my head with the prospect of running a marathon.

The next two weeks felt like forever. Ask any marathoner and they’ll agree that the taper is the hardest part of training. Finally October 10th arrived. It was a cool rainy morning less then ideal conditions but I was as ready as I could be. As I approached mile one I realized then I was really doing it. I got to the half-mary point in 2 hours and 35 minutes and felt good. By mile 15 I started experiencing the pains of running, legs, back and feet. Between miles 20 and 21 I was ready to give up. My friend Pat was with me daring me to finish and encouraging me as always. About an hour and a half later I crossed the finish line (5:40:48). I got my finishers metal. That was it I was officially a marathoner.

I know I never would have been able to do it without the support of my wife and children, my friends and Co-workers, and my virtual running buddy’s.

I’d be remiss if I left out my wife’s take on this whole thing, In 1995 she watched me run a 5K, she thought I was going to need medical assistance and that was at the beginning of the race. She can’t believe I’m the same person, and if the truth be known neither can I.