You may be interested in my blog. It’s about my journey to this marathon, but it’s not really about running. It’s about life as experienced through the journey to a marathon (a destination I may or may not reach!)

I am a new blogger and am slowly learning blogging etiquette – such as I’ve learned it’s not cool to post your link in the comments of others (lest you think I am using you to get others to me.) I’m not. I just like our similar goal and think you may connect with it.

Good luck in the training, good luck in the run! Can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Dani

Great post, and good luck training!

After all the small steps we took to get in debt (and gain weight) are the same size as the ones we have to take to get out of debt and get fit.

This post is one of the reasons I come back to GRS on a daily basis.

I have heard of this sort of thing happening to numerous blog owners.

I find it appalling.

I made an effort to organize money blog owners to form a mutual protection society against the goons and thugs that seek to do harm to our communities. Some opponents of the idea shot that effort down before it had a chance to gain much steam, but I think that such an initiative is greatly needed.

If you ever develop an interest in pursuing something like this, J.D., please let me know. Lots of people are losing access to lots of good work because of the sick and twisted ways that a small number of us have of “expressing” ourselves.

This sort of thing really makes me sick. It is pure destruction without any redemptive aspect whatsoever.

Rob

I wish you well in your quest!

My secret ambition is to trek the AT with my daughter . . .

A few more thoughts about the post are that even though the first attempt was unsuccessful, it later became a learning experience for future success. Furthermore, there is ALWAYS another chance. The option of failure, becomes more of a choice instead of result.

I lived in Korea courtesy of Uncle Sam. The mess hall was a mile walk from my barracks and work area so I walked 6 miles to eat every day. Now I did not care for the mess hall food, I had fallen in love with the Korean far especially their version of Ramen, which was another 2 miles. Typically if I walked to the village I would top the evening off by going dancing. This did not include and of the PT I did with my unit. Eight miles a day with a healthier style of eating I return to the states in the best shape of my life. Here desserts are to prevalent, food is richer, and I have gotten lazy.
The same could be said for my spending, by walking instead of driving I did not spend money on gas, Not having desserts and candy so easily accessible I did not eat them, here every time I go to the store it is right there calling to me. I also ate a much healthier diet rich in vegetables and fruit. Here convenience foods, pizza and fast food are to easy and expensive.

This week I am going to start making my own bread again. By eating better perhaps it will help me save towards my debts.

Jamie – I love this analogy. Weight loss really is unpredictable like the stock market. In both cases, the only real benefits come from making long-range choices.

You cannot lose weight and maintain it in a healthy way by mainstream “dieting.” The only real solution is to be health-oriented. If you make healthy lifestyle changes without as much emphasis on weight loss, your body will be primed to lose weight.

Just the same, you are unlikely to make it rich by dumping money into the stock market at the “right” time. The only real solution here is to make wise investment choices that are made to get you through the long haul. Your finances will be primed to grow wealth.

I think you’re going through what most of us do when trying to lose weight. The scale day-to-day and week-to-week makes very little sense. While losing weight, I noticed the same things you do – good scale days can follow unhealthy days, and sometimes healthy weeks aren’t reflected by the number on the scale. I don’t think that’s the best way to look at it though. To stretch out the money/fitness comparison, going to the gym, eating salads all day and then weighing yourself is the equivalent of stock market timing. It might pay off, but it’s not a good long term strategy. Eating right and working out regularly is the only ‘sure-bet’, and you have to take the long view. People frequently ask e how I lost so much weight, and the only answer I can give them is ‘diet and exercise’. I had many bad days/weeks along the way.

But the battle to lose weight and get in better shape is so much harder for me. Some weeks I eat much better and exercise a TON only to gain a pound or two. Some weeks my weight goes down again even though I skipped the gym and had an extra piece of that chocolate cake at work. Maybe it has to do with being a girl, but man, it’s frustrating how little sense it makes. And it makes it hard to stick with a routine.

On the flip side, I think this is why I find managing my finances so absurdly satisfying. It’s this little section of a crazy, unpredictable world that I actually have complete control over.

When I first started running I had never run more than about 100 yards without having to stop and catch my breath. But, with a detailed training program and the persistence and desire to reach my goal I completed a marathon 6 months after I started running.

Paying down debt uses the same principles of discipline and dedication to a plan that make achieving your goal a dream that can and will be reached just like the finish line at the end of 26 miles 385 yards.

Salvatore, I want to let you know that it is very common to lose your motivation after finishing a marathon or reaching any goal that you have strived for so long and hard to achieve. When you are that goal oriented and you reach your goal you feel like you have nothing else to strive for. It is easy to slip back into old habits. The best solution is to set another goal to focus on and that way you can prevent old habits from coming back.

What I have noticed in the week since I have completed my marathon is that my motivation to run is much less. In my mind there is no incentive to maintain a training schedule since there is no other race in my immediate future.

As someone also trying to pay down debts, is this a common experience for those tackling financial goals? When you reach your goal, (in this case becoming debt-free) is there a risk of relapsing into old habits?

I also liked the gentle reminder that, like in “Your Money or Your Life,” there should be “no shame, no blame” when we reflect on our past inadequate (or nonexistent) efforts. I have been very down on myself lately, in that my goals for becoming debt-free have become thwarted by a drop in income and an increase in expenses. As another poster pointed out, while existing on ramen noodles and working 90 hours a week can offer a short-term burst, it is really unsustainable for me over the long haul. I need to maintain my marriage, and that precludes becoming a 24-hour wage slave, regardless of my good intentions and desire to become debt-free faster. (A huge factor in the downfall of my first marriage had to do with our not coming together in what we valued more: money or the health of our relationship. We were unable to achieve a healthy balance in which BOTH were important and both were nurtured, but not to the detriment of the other.)

I wish you the best of everything on your journey towards running a marathon. Very impressive!

My husband and I just finished our first marathon three weeks ago and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It really did make me feel as if there is nothing in this world that I can’t master if I put my mind to it. It taught me self control, commitment, discipline, how to set and reach goals…all things that are required to get out and stay out of debt as well. Only when I thought about all the other areas of my life where I could apply what I’d learned from the marathon training, I hadn’t even thought of finances! Other than our house and cars, we are almost there though. Thanks for helping me realize that I can apply these lessons here too!

Oh, and I just want to give you some encouragement on the marathon. You can do it! If we can go from the couch to a marathon in 16 weeks, anyone can. An awesome resource to help you to avoid your training pitfalls is the book, “The Non Runners Marathon Trainer.” It’s excellent.

This was very much my experience.

I think that the hardest thing to convince a non-saver of is how much of a difference effective saving can make. We are all able to see only so far ahead of where we are at the time we are doing the seeing. To someone who has never saved, it truly feels impossible to save 10 percent of income, just as to someone who has never run it seems impossible to run two miles. But once you get to enjoy running, you can run marathons. And once we get to enjoy saving, many of us end up saving 50 percent of net income or even more.

The hardest part of the journey is getting started. Once you start discovering the possibilities, more and more of them open up to you.

Rob

I ran Portland last year. It was my first marathon, and I’m glad it was. The organization is top notch, there’s no 5k/10k/half-marathon to distract from the main event, and the route is packed with spectators. The hill leading up to the bridge around mile 17 will eat you alive though – train for hills!

I always equate financial success with weight loss (I’ve lost about 100lbs). If you eat more calories than you should, you end up fat. If you spend more than you should, you end up with big, fat debt.

My pace is slower, but I’m still going to cross that debt-free finish line, and you’re right: finishing, rather than zipping through it, is what matters.

Good luck with the training! We’re all rooting for you.

I have friends that hate planning for anything because they feel like it’s too regimented and oppressive. They want to feel free to do as they like when an opportunity arises. It took me a long time to realize that choice and spontaneity can be built into a plan. Like anything, balance is required for long term success. Do a little extra work in the beginning and you can have your cake and eat it too.