Doing my first Marathon...Man have come a long way

I have decided to run my first marathon. This will be the first time I have run more then the 10 km Terry Fox run and 4 years ago this would have been unthinkable. Here is a summmery of how I started working out and why...

MY BACKGROUND:.Woke up one day about 3 and a half years ago and discovered that I was fat( SEE BEFORE PIC FOR PROOF)! I looked awfull and worse...I felt as bad as I looked. Sick of being tired, out of breath and lazy, I made the decission to do something about it and started to a low Carb diet and managed to lose 95 pounds in just under 4 months. I was very proud of doing so, but wanted a way to keep it off and so I looked to exercise.

I started by lifting 3 days and cardio 3 days and heavy abs rountine 3 days , every week . I HATED it for the first 2 months, but kept with it..even though I wanted to quit daily. After some time, it became less of a pain in the ass and turned into my personal daily Challenge. I look forward to each work out and have made some great gains.

STATS:

• 35 years old
• 6'2, 206 lb.
• 10% Body Fat

FITNESS GOALS:

• Continue to build lean, tight muscle
• Noticable size and definition
• Remain healthy
• Be a healthy role model for my kids
• Run a marathon

I have completed all of my fitness goals except the last one and the time has come.

I will be doing the Port Perry Half Marathon. In case you may not know (as I didn't) , a half marathon is 21 km (13 miles) and a marathon is 42 km (26 miles). I had originally thought of doing the Toronto Marathon, but settled on the half marathon. The half should prove as good a test of my fitness test and by the end I will know if the full marathon is for me.

I will have to modify my training routines in order to be ready for the September 9th marathon. My weight training and abs workouts will continue untouched throughout, but the same can not be said of my cardio training.

I presently do 30 minutes of cardio, 7 days a week and keep my target heart rate of 145 bpm (beats per minute). I alternate between running, stationary bike and the stair master.
This is my marathon training program and it will start June 3rd, 2006 and continue right up to the day of the race Sept 9th, 2006. You will see that there are 2 off days on the running schedule and on those days I will do my normal cardio.

The thought of failing to reach this goal scares me a bit. When it comes to health/fitness I am very dedicated and proud of what I have accomplished. . I am not sure if I can do this and scared of what effect this may have on my training if I fail. Mostly, I fear that any failure here could derail all of my efforts.
You see, in many other parts of my life I have failed or just given up before I failed, but I can honestly say that for 4 years I never have when it came to working out or nutrition....Never.

This is why if I am going to do this, I not only want to finish, but finish strong for no other reason then to prove to myself that I can...