It Doesn't Always Kill You...

perhaps about 8 or 9 years ago i was sitting in my apartment on a sunday morning. i had been living in that apartment for less than a year and i was watching the new york marathon. my roommate (probably wanting to change the channel) said to me: you know, they run down fourth avenue so you can probably see them go by from the roof.
well, she didn't have to tell me twice. i grabbed my coat, my gloves and my keys and headed out the door. i was turning to head up the stairs when a thought hit me - if i could watch them from the roof, surely i could get a better view from the street corner? i had nothing to lose, right? so i dashed down the stairs and to the end of my block.

what a wonderful choice; i screamed until i lost my voice. i gave high fives to runners as they went by. i was excited and inspired. i was standing at around 6 miles into a 26 mile race and i couldn't believe that people were going by. a three mile run for me was a civilised distance and 6 miles was the kind of distance you ran to prove a point (a point that was generally followed by at least 2 days of hobbling around in pain). these people were planning on completing over four times that distance. i was full of respect.

fast forward a little bit and i was sitting at a wedding, chatting with a (then)stranger. she was telling a story when she mentioned in passing, "and then the other day when i was on my 20 mile run..." i thought i had to correct her, "ha, ha, you said my 20 mile run..." but she, instead corrected me, "yes, my 20 mile run. i run marathons..."

it must have been the cocktails for she convinced snowycage and me that a marathon was a distance that "anyone can do." and that, my friends, was how it all started. and now, with at least 3 half marathons and 1 full (new york here i come!) planned for 2011, i still can't answer why i do it. for all the moments of joy, there are moments of pain, of frost bite and of plain old ennui. and still i find myself making plans to go out, in the dark, in the cold, in the rain and, in the middle of it all, somehow i find some kind of peace.