For most, running is a chore. That is simply not the case for Ocean Beach resident Stephen Johnson, who recently completed the Chicago Marathon. “It was definitely a fun run,” Johnson said. “But it wasn’t fun on my body whatsoever.” Johnson completed the world-class Chicago Marathon on Oct. 10, finishing with a time of 3:11:40 with friends and family cheering him on. His goal was to finish under 3:15 in order to qualify for the 2011 Boston Marathon, which he plans to run in April. “It was a pretty good sense of accomplishment,” Johnson said. “It was more of a difficult race for me because of the injuries. I wasn’t ready for it. I wasn’t able to do the miles up until the race that I needed to do.” During training for the marathon, Johnson battled a pair of injuries — a stress fracture in his right heel and Achilles tendonitis in his left foot. He said these injuries gave him only about four weeks to train, leading to leg cramps at the 15-mile mark of the marathon because of dehydration and lack of conditioning. “It all comes down to mileage, really. That’s the idea,” Johnson said. “I was doing at least one 20-mile run super slow once a week and then daily I was doing between six and 10 miles a day, and a couple times I would do a 13-mile and then throw in some speed workouts.” Johnson, a Point Loma High School graduate, started training for the marathon by running 40 miles per week, eventually building up to 70 miles per week. During his runs, there is no music, no phones and no distractions. Just Johnson and the pavement. “I don’t listen to music. I just kind of get into the run and I don’t really try to think about much,” Johnson said. “I kind of feel my body and feel how I’m doing and dictate whether or not I have a good run or a bad run.” A 10-mile run takes Johnson from his home on Garrison Street around Cañon Street, up Talbot Street and onto Gage Drive, where he runs to the Old Point Loma Lighthouse and back. A longer run includes a loop around Shelter Island. An early morning weekend run typically takes the 39-year-old Johnson from Point Loma to the Children’s Pool in La Jolla. “I definitely don’t consider myself an elite runner whatsoever,” Johnson said. “I just run for fun and I have these goals in my head that I tell myself.” Johnson’s next big run will be the legendary Boston Marathon, with training and a few half-marathons leading up to that. He first got the idea to run in the Boston Marathon while attending a wedding on the East Coast about a year and a half ago.