What a relief to know that I can still run fast! One of my friends, Sam Edgens, e-mailed me today and said that he was coming back slowly from his own debut marathon several months earlier. "Good lord, I am out of shape," he wrote. "I felt good enough to even try 800s on Tuesday but could only muster one at 3:34, then jogged home." I told him not to beat himself up. "Marathons take a real toll on the body and it takes awhile to get over it all, both physically and psychologically. After my last marathon I thought I would NEVER run fast again! I have looked back, too, and wondered how I ever managed to run mile repeats, 800s, and marathon-pace workouts like I did only a few short months ago. I can be really discouraging." I told him about my 5-K and said, "It will all come back again and you will be a stronger and wiser runner for your next big race."
Easy to say to a young runner like him. For me, at this point, I am still struggling with that old line, "The older I get, the faster I was."
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