Running the marathon

I can think of several reasons why not to run the marathon.  First off, the first guy to run the marathon died of exhaustion from it.  On a more personal level, I had to stop wrestling in high school because I blew out my knee.  Both my knees were weak to begin with.  Now, after this, I ran cross country for two years.  So, now not only do I have bad knees, I got bad shins from running with shin splints and bad ankles from constantly rolling/'spraining it and continuing to walk/ run and perform on it.  So, for me , it's a lot more than the normal "you have to be nuts to run 26.2 miles!"  After my friend ran the marathon yesterday, she squatted down.  Squatting hurts my knees.  My other friend will squat when she's tired of standing to relax her legs.  If I crouch into a catcher's stance (what they do) I feel a sharp pain in the back of my knee and handsprings.  This had been the case for at least as long as I can remember but probably my whole life.  Running the marathon is not worth going to the hospital for reconstructive knee surgery, which is a distinct possibility if I ran the marathon. 
          With all this said, there's one question I keep asking myself; What if you did?  This leads to so many more questions like how would it feel?  What's it like to say 'I ran a marathon'?  Can that be put into words?  I think not.  I can't put into words how proud I am of my friend for doing it.  The odd thing is, it's the 2nd time she has.  The first time was the Chicago one last year.  I wasn't there and was like "Good Job, you're crazy" like most people react.  But seeing her with the cape and the medal signifying she finished the New York City marathon, I couldn't help but want to constantly hug her.  She had told me that she hurt all over so stop hugging her but why was I so proud?  I realized I was having a different emotion as we kept walking; envy.  I envied the feeling, the knowledge that I have conquored the marathon.  She can say she did it twice.  I actually like to run.  That was never the issue.  I feel New York City would be the ideal place because I know and power walked/run on a lot of the course.  I'm not familiar with the entire 26.2, but I am familiar with a vast majority since I and many of my friends have lived near part of the route.  The problem with this is you can't run the New York City marathon unless you've run one before.  There's no way I'd run it twice.  But what if I just run the course the day before the race? This way the barricades are already in place, so I have it mapped out....or map my own 26.2 miles course looping back to my apartment.

So now for more questions.  How do I know my legs can't handle it?  How do I know I wouldn't be able to finish?  When I ran cross country, I drank 6 cans of soda and 2 hot dogs for lunch every day.  What if I decided for 5 months, I'd actually do the traditional thing.  I trained correctly, I worked at it and gave myself the opportunity to run 26.2 miles.  Why not try? For that's the only way I'll get an answer to these questions. 

Now evidence why I may be able to.  When I ran cross contry, I averaged 6:35 minute mile for 3.2 miles.  After 9 years or so of no exercise and doing nothing athletic, I ran a 9 minute mile.  That's horrible by my and cross coutnry standards but not so bad for general population standards.  I never timed how fast I could run only a mile when I was in Cross Country shape.  But, at West Point to max the mile test, you need to get a 6:30.  After that that they stop you.  So, over a 3.2 mile course, I was averaging five seconds less than the maximum required for the United States army.  I saw a lot of old people who finished the marathon.  Yes, I ran cross country 11 years ago, but can I get near that shape again?  My friend maintained an 11:23 mile pace up till about mile 23 where she dropped to 11:55.  So, I was running a 5 minute quicker pace for 3.2 miles.  Does that mean if I dropped the pace by five minutes, I could go another 23.1 miles?  I think there's only one way to find out.