From: Pastports@aol.com
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 10:28 AM
To:
Subject: (no subject)
August 20, 2005
It’s Saturday morning and even though I’m looking at the back of my eyelids I know what time it is. I know I have to get up, so I slip on my shorts and start brewing my 6 cups of hot coffee. Always multi tasking, I do my back exercises and fit my contacts and running clothes as I try to ingest as much caffeine as possible before my run.
Equipped with my compact radio I head out the door and on my way. Just down the road I tip my hat to the heron eating breakfast and next I’m over the bridge as I hear the water forcing its way over the rocks. Well that’s it, I’ve finally settled into my pace and the music starts to fade almost to white noise, as my thoughts come to my forehead.
I always have to point and click on my thoughts to get started. Oh, I have my favorites; family and friends, work, vacationing and of course running. Soon after I get started my mind always reverts to randomness and I have no idea why it stops where it does.
Today, my random thoughts stop on one of my favorites; running. I wonder how I got to like running or if I really do like it. I hated running in high school. I just didn’t understand what running had to do with football and lacrosse. After I graduated from high school my brother Doug died and living on my own I decided to start running. It hurt just as it did in high school but now I liked it. And the more I ran the more it hurt and the more I liked it. I guess I learned back then that running can be painful.
In any case I just kept running. Maybe not like Forest Gump,
but running just the same. Several years ago I bought an early MP3 player
that would hold about 30 minutes of music. I could always gauge my distance by
the amount of songs I heard. The songs I played from INXS, Fleetwood Mac and Counting Crows
to Vivaldi and Mozart were as eclectic as the places I’ve run. From city
streets to rural
Well, today, before the caffeine wore off I decided I was going to go on a long run. A long run has different meaning for different people. For me it ended up meaning 15 miles. You see what happened is that about a week ago my 12 and 14 year old daughters challenged me to run the Durango marathon by agreeing (which they haven’t done since infancy) that they would be so proud of me if I ran the marathon. But can I do it? The last marathon I ran was nearly 20 lbs. and 20 years ago and I could run 2 minutes per mile faster than I do now. Back then I could train at 6 miles and gut out the last 20. Now I have to train at 20 miles and gut out the last 6. Also back then running shoes didn’t have the spring they have today and cotton shirts were the rule and not the exception. I guess I could change from competing to participating after about 20 miles or so even if it did disappoint the girls. In any case I now have an MO.
But I wonder if my cause is noble enough. I think of all of the stories I’ve read about people who decide to run marathons. Some are running as a tribute to someone who has died, many run to cure cancer and a host of other good causes. I think I’m going to run just to make my daughters proud of me. That’s not selfish is it? I think it would be better if my family were proud of me for what I do for a living. But when I explain to them what I do or how my day went, frankly, I’m not very impressed either.
But running is different. Anyone who has run to escape a rain shower or ran a mile in PE knows that 26.2 miles is a long way to go and it takes a lot of grit no matter what age or physical condition you’re in.
Anyway, I think I’m going to do it. So don’t be surprised to see me there with my not so noble cause. But don’t look for me in front with the 6 minute milers. I’ll be in the middle with the kinder, gentler runners doing 10 minute miles (that’s what I tell everyone but I’d really like to do 9).