A lot of numbers are involved in running. There are approximately 2,000 running steps to each mile. A 20-ounce sports drink contains 125 calories. Last year, 9,950 volunteers made the Honolulu Marathon happen. It takes three alarms to get me out of bed for an early Sunday morning workout. I own five pairs of running shoes: two “;serious”; and three because they're cute. And the most important number right now: 26.2, the number of miles my husband and I intend to run on Dec. 12.

We've started running with the Honolulu Marathon Clinic every Sunday, and our group leader, a veteran runner named Andy, mentioned that he usually takes just under six hours to complete the marathon.

My immediate thought: I could fly to Las Vegas in the time it takes a seasoned runner to finish this race. How long will it take us? I had flashbacks of last year's Hibiscus Half-Marathon, for which we were ill-prepared, and the sheer embarrassment of being asked to move aside as officials closed the course while we were still two miles from the finish line. For the first time it crossed my mind that successful completion of this endeavor is not guaranteed.

Self-doubt is a dangerous indulgence. Not until recently did I realize how much a test of will our training is. The physical challenges, aches and pains are dwarfed by bouts of self-doubt and other mental roadblocks. Sometimes I feel jubilant after a 6-mile run; other days, I'm hammered after two miles. For every day that I feel accomplished, there's a day that I seriously question our sanity. On a recent run my shoes pounded the pavement in time with the thought ricocheting around in my mind: Whose. Idea. Was. This.

WE CAN THANK the Greeks for conceiving the beast known as the Marathon — so named for the battle site from which Pheiddipides ran 26 miles (plus 385 yards) to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated. Legend has it that the warrior-messenger arrived at Athens shouting “;Nenikekamen!”; — We have won! — and then promptly collapsed and died. Not the most uplifting end to a potentially inspiring story.

Today, training programs and diets specifically designed for people who undertake this overwhelming challenge abound so that Pheiddipides' fate need not be ours. But which ones should we follow? How many calories should we consume per day? How many miles a week should we run? Is there such thing as too much running? We have so much to learn.

Back to the numbers: There are 168 hours in a week. Marathon Clinic guru “;Doc”; Jack Scaff advises us to run for one hour at least three days every week. Carving out less than 2 percent of our week has been tough. As Doc Scaff quipped at our second meeting, “;Welcome to the PTA — pain, torture and agony”; — and it's never truer than at the end of a long day of work.

My husband, a marine machinery mechanic in the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard apprentice program, and I, a fifth-grade teacher, rarely feel like running when we get home. But we pull on our singlets and lace up our shoes because we know that each day we don't run is a step we don't take toward our success.

And finally, the number I used to associate with running — one, because for so long I viewed it as a solitary activity — has been replaced with two, because Scott has never left my side. Even at last month's Straub Kapiolani Women's 10K race, he met me near the final stretch and ran alongside to the finish line.

I used to run alone — away from conflict, deadlines, people, situations — but now that my husband and I run together, I see that we're part of a great community on Oahu, and we're all running toward a common goal.

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Christy W. Yee, a fifth-grade teacher at Aliiolani Elementary, is a reformed couch potato who is working toward running the 2010 Honolulu Marathon. This column tracks her progress on the second Tuesday monthly.