The Starting Line

"What distinguishes those of us at the starting line from those of us on the couch is that we learn through running to take what the days gives us, what our body will allow us, and what our will can tolerate."
- John Bingham

I have made it to the starting line of another marathon. What an awkward place… caged like a race horse in the starting gate… err… well maybe an old horse that just happens to be running on the same course as the other race horses… waiting… fidgeting… stretching… checking my watch… “I’m cold”… “will I be too hot?”… “wind is nasty”… “did I drink enough?”… “oh God please let my bladder be empty”… “are my shoes too tight?”… “look, there’s the ground”… check my watch… “will this race ever start?”… “wow there is at least one runner fatter than me”… “does my leg hurt?”… “I should have checked Hercules”… check my watch… check my watch… then…

"The gun goes off and everything changes... the world changes... and nothing else really matters." --Patti Sue Plummer

There are things you just can’t explain to a 5 year old… like why I will run 26.2 miles to reach a finish line that is 1 mile from the starting line.

My goal for Newport is to run between 9:00 and 9:30 miles. Wide range I know… but I am not sure I put in enough miles to keep the same pace throughout. My stretch goal would be to break 4 hours, but again… I am not sure I have the miles or put enough work into speed to do that. I did train hard enough to finish… that I know… and that in itself is an accomplishment.

Not too many toe the starting line of a marathon… and for those there with my Saturday… the race is but the tip of the iceberg… a trip paid for by hundreds and hundreds of miles of training. Marathoners may be mentally ill… there could certainly be an argument for that… like people who cut themselves or don’t eat or whatever, but as far as illnesses go… there are not too many that make you healthier.

See you in 26.2.