About 25 minutes into my run I could feel that ache in my right leg but I kept running thinking it would go away. WRONG!!! Nearing the 3 mile mark I made a decision that I had never been forced to make before in all my years of running and cycling. I stopped running, turned around and headed for home but not running. I was walking.

In all my years of running and cycling for recreation and for local competitions, I had never quit and had to walk. This was hard for me to accept but I knew that if I kept going I would really hurt myself and really miss some training time.

I never understood athletes or performers that were devastated or distraught when they could no longer practice their craft until this morning and I understood. It was a painful understanding. As I walked the few miles home I began to feel what it’s like to not be able to do something you love. I understand the person in the wheelchair that looks at people running, walking and playing and thinks “what I wouldn’t give to be able to do that”. I understood the athlete or performer that is aged or injured and cries openly upon realizing they can no longer do what their heart aches to do.

I am not permanently injured nor aged but not being able to finish my Sunday run that I enjoy so much and probably miss a week of training is disappointing and hurtful. We take so much for granted and so ungrateful.

I will return in a week or so to my marathon training and I will have a new passion and appreciation for not just running but being able to live without being inconvenienced by an unwilling body. No longer will I sigh and avoid a training session. It is not just the running I will cherish and appreciate but the ability. The ability to experience daily life without inconvenience or hindrance. The ability to take what I feel in my heart and mind and command my body to feel and experience.

I will cherish the ability to simply, DO.

Out running when everyone is at work brings out some odd stares from passing motorists. They look at you like “why you out here running, you must not have a job”?

I wondered what would I be doing if I didn’t work. What if I didn’t have to work, if I were financially independent? How great would it be to be financially independent? With each stride a stream of things that I would like to do, learn and accomplish filled my head.

I would go to Antarctica, Alaska, climb Mt. Rainier, live overseas during kids summer break, see the country by rail, read a book a week and dream. Dream.

All the things that came into my head seemed so attainable. I not once thought “I don’t think I can do that” or “that’s probably not gonna happen”. The desire it takes to train for and finish a marathon is powerful. Applying that same desire to anything in life and I am sure success will be the outcome.

Training Info:

Route: Church@Burch>Ellison>Dogwood Trl>return

71 min HRM Avg 168

Cool thing about where I live is the roads interconnect in so many ways that I can add or subtract route time simply by adding another road or subtracting a street. I have the luxury of having multiple roads that I can use to create different routes so I don’t get bored running the same roads.

With about a mile and a half left to run I turned up the pace and was really feeling good. I couldn’t believe I had been running for nearly 2 hours and had this much left in the tank. I was thinking how ahead I was in my training, maybe I am ready for a sub 3:30 marathon. I hit that last turn feeling real goooooooood!! Arms pumping smoothly, easy breathing, legs light and strong, I head to the mailbox to get my watch and check my finish time.

Pop open the mailbox, look at my watch and Voila. 1 hour and 29 minutes. What the F–k!!? I was crushed and filled with disbelief. How in the hell could I have added more distance and ended up with the same time? Two things could have happened, either I was running faster than my normal long run pace or the new route wasn’t as long a distance as I thought. I figure the latter.

So much for me thinking I was ready for a sub 3:30 marathon. Oh well, I’ll just keep going and make damn sure I choose a longer route next week.

No training today. I am taking the day off to relax, rest the body and do some eating.