Throughout my training process friends and family constantly said to me things like “you’re crazy!” Or “How are you gonna do it? I can’t even run a mile...”

There is so much stigma around the idea of running a marathon and it does not become a realistic goal until you are crossing the finish line. The truth is, running a marathon is a completely attainable goal for almost anyone. All you have to do is prepare your mind and body. In my case, I found that the actual marathon was the easiest part of my entire training process. For the past four months, I have had constant pain in my legs and have had to allot time for workouts into my crazy college schedule. My hard work paid off and I found myself feeling like I could run forever at mile 20. I had expectations in my mind that I was somehow going to spontaneously combust before the finish line and was shocked that I did not feel pain or struggle during my race; but quite the opposite. Granted, I was only running at about a 10 minute per mile pace, but as a first-time marathoner, my main goal was just to finish.

Pacing is absolutely the most important thing to know before attempting your first marathon. I heard numerous horror stories about people “hitting a wall” after going out too fast and ultimately shutting down their body in the second half of the race. I kept a slower, steady pace in the first half which allowed me to speed up in the second, boosting up my adrenaline as I passed the walkers. I was actually able to sprint the last mile (this partially makes me angry because clearly I could’ve run a faster race, and partially makes me happy that I had such a great finish).

All in all, I highly recommend to any fitness level to try and do a marathon. There is simply no greater feeling than crossing that finish line. It has opened doors and pushed me out of my comfort zone, encouraging me to try any other crazy endeavors that I might encounter. If you follow a training schedule and practice being mindful when you run, there is no reason why you wouldn’t be able to finish.

Our bodies can do amazing things, whether you can do it or not is completely up to yourself.