The Beginning of my Quest to Run a Four Hour Marathon

Greetings travelers of the great blogosphere. You have accidentally (and perhaps unfortunately) stumbled upon the first ever blog of a 25 year old human male, named Hugo Rutten, whose goal in blogging is primarily a selfish one: to learn more about blogging, and use it as a motivational tool to work toward my goal of running a marathon in under four hours. I would like to think of this as a place where other average runners can come to receive or give encouragement and work together toward their goals.

The focus of this blog will be mainly on running related issues, my training, and ramblings. I will attempt not to stray far from this topic, and not to let the blog delve too deeply into other aspects of my life. (I know everyone has much better things to do with their time)

My running life started in high school, where I wasn't a runner but a wrestler. My running consisted of single laps around Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, which is about 2.75 miles, and various sprinting activities. Running was never something I enjoyed: it was a necessary part of my cardiovascular training. At best I was indifferent toward running, at worst, it was boring, painful, and slow, sometimes maddeningly so. I was a muscular 175lbs, which lent it self well to the bench press, and not as well to longer distance running. This sentiment continued into college where I lifted heavy weights and bulked up, even though I wasn't in sports; lifting was something I had grown used to in the wrestling off season, so I carried on. I still ran on occasion, but I had never run further than 4 or 5 miles once when I was hyped up on caffeine and had just gotten in a fight with my brother in London. (Which I highly recommend trying, though without the caffeine and fighting.)

By my senior year I was 210lbs with a lot of muscle, and some extra fat too. I was running less often, but I was still in pretty good shape--or so I thought. My girlfriend who was in a fitness class decided to start running, and one day when we were back near my old stomping grounds we went for a run around the lake I used to run around in high school. It was the middle of the winter--probably 30 degrees out (which actually pretty warm for Minnesota)--and after I got around the lake I was feeling chilled from my own sweat. I hadn't dressed for the weather, and hadn't run that far in months. As I went to leave the lake and finish the run, my girlfriend said she was going to do a second lap...

I just checked my watch... I've been writing a bit longer than I planned. I've got to get out for a run before its too dark! I'll post the rest of the story soon.