Hi, this is Debbie Boyles, coach at Mojo for Running with podcast number 49, first marathons.

I write a column for Florida Running and Triathlon Magazine, and I thought for this podcast, I would

share with you an article from the May-June issue. My column is called First Timers, And this article is about two first-time marathoners

and the extraordinary experiences each had while training for their first marathons last fall.

When my runners start talking about doing their first marathon, I listen closely. While I love

seeing people accomplish that life-changing feat,

I know that training for and successfully completing a marathon requires commitment and

determination quite unlike that required for half marathons. I need to know they've decided to do it

because it's a dream they are ready to work to achieve. And I want

them to understand just how hard they will work to cross that finish line. I never want peer

pressure or anything else to cloud their thinking. Their desire must be intrinsic and their commitment

unfailing. Last year, Brandy Jackson and Michelle Cirulo made that commitment.

Each gave it careful consideration, knowing that other things would have to take a back seat,

that it would require rising many days at 4.30 a.m. doing long runs in the summer heat and

running in the dark. Equally important, it would absorb all their free time.

But when run Tampa decided to make the Chicago Marathon, the fall destination marathon, each

decided it would be their first, her first marathon. When Brandy and Michelle made that commitment,

neither had any idea just what an unusual journey it would be.

Neither did I.

Every first-time marathoner has to worry about ever-increasing long runs,

soreness, learning what they can eat along the way and what they can't on long runs,

and when they can eat it, getting adequate rest and much more. But if they train

...