And that\u2019s why I\u2019ve tried to be honest and open on this blog \u2013 to demonstrate that even though I\u2019ve run 400+ marathons, it\u2019s still hard\u2026 and always will be.<\/p>\n
Today I\u2019m off to Europe for two weekends of running\u2026 and a few days of adventures in between.\u00a0 I\u2019m feeling woefully ill-prepared.\u00a0 Packing wise, I really feel discombobulated and out of sorts.\u00a0 I\u2019m pretty sure I have everything in my bag \u2013 running gear, Garmin watch, a few extra layers for walking around since apparently it\u2019s getting down to the high 30s at night in Prague and Geneva over the next few days.\u00a0 But I\u2019m also feeling ill-prepared and nervous about the marathons themselves.<\/p>\n
You\u2019d think after literally hundreds of start lines, I\u2019d be less nervous.\u00a0 And yet\u2026 and yet\u2026.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been struggling with recovery these past few months.\u00a0 Yesterday was a major stumbling block on the road to race readiness.\u00a0 I did a short 6 miler\u2026 and it was rough.\u00a0 I had problems maintaining even a 12-minute-mile pace\u2026 almost a full 5 minutes slower per mile than my best pace.\u00a0 That\u2019s the difference between a 3 hour marathon and a 5 hour, 15 minute finish.\u00a0 That\u2019s\u2026 disheartening to say the least.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve gone in waves, feeling better and worse in the last few weeks.\u00a0 I thought I had finally rounded a corner and was proceeding toward rebuilding but yesterday felt like a colossal run in the wrong direction.\u00a0 I\u2019ve long known I\u2019ve had an addictive personality, inherited on the genetic code from the Hanna side of the family.\u00a0 There\u2019s a mania I find myself dealing with \u2013 it\u2019s why when I started down the road to 50 states, it really became a thing\u2026 ditto with the 7 continents\u2026 ditto with the Road To marathon series\u2026 and now with the I\u2019m already kind of sick of Marathon Globetrotters circuit.\u00a0 The latter is probably because I spent a tidy sum on a club shirt that would not have been out of place in the famous Carol Burnett Gone with the Wind sketch.\u00a0 Drowning in tech fabric, I also look like I\u2019d be at home afloat in the Macy\u2019s Day Thanksgiving Parade.\u00a0 Sigh.\u00a0 Ironically, given my ballooning waist line due to sub-par running, stress eating and the ravages of decades of life, that shirt may soon fit perfectly.\u00a0 Which prompts a double sigh.<\/p>\n
This is a bit of a wallowing post but it\u2019s also relatively real\u2026 at least more real than I\u2019d ever think to have posted onto Facebook.\u00a0 Facebook.\u00a0 Sigh.\u00a0 It\u2019s much more of a Fakebook, a sliver of life posted online to digitally keep up with the Joneses.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m waiting to board my flight.\u00a0 And I\u2019m just pushed and pulled in all kinds of directions.\u00a0 I failed to get out and run this morning, my alarm going off at 5:30 AM to allow me time to get home and shower and get on the road to the airport.\u00a0 But my body and mind just shrugged it off and instead of lacing up, I tapped the snooze button repeatedly.\u00a0 That\u2019s\u2026 troubling.<\/p>\n
We will see what happens Sunday in Prague.<\/p>\n
Meb\u00a0Keflezighi’s primary advice to runners, and indeed humans in life, can be summed up in this excerpt from his book:<\/p>\n
“A marathon is a metaphor for life, and life is not easy. A marathon’s not easy.\u00a0 But through hard work and keeping the spirit up, [being] the best that you can be that day, even when things are not going your [way], stick to it. When you finish, you can evaluate, what are the three things positive, what are the three things that [are] negative, and change. We’re humans, we make mistakes. But if we modify, we can be a better us.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I will do my best\u2026 and if I can say that, and I can do that, then whatever the clock time says, I will be able to hold my head up high.\u00a0 And that is assuredly worth the uncertainty, the worry, the effort.<\/p>\n
One foot in front of the other.<\/p>\n
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