There's just something magical about the first 20-mile run in any marathon training plan, some special cachet that has something to do with that first digit: only six more miles to go!
One of the checkout girls at Bryson's Food Store asked me Friday if I had big plans for tomorrow, and I thought a split second and said, "Yeah, I'm going to run 20 miles," and she blanched. I should not have said that! People take it for lunacy, or (worse) self-aggrandizement Martha helped me through the middle miles but I was all alone on the final six, and of course I could not avoid asking myself (many times) what I thought I was doing. This is hard! But, of course, it's the hard part that will make 26.2 miles a little easier, because the hard miles, the tough runs, hone our edge a little, don't they? Discipline is the whetstone. Already, I am recovering, and everything feels good today. My weight is below normal, my legs are recovering their spring, and I feel that I am getting ready! Why else would a 63-year-old man do such a thing? So that I can stand on the starting line feeling as fit as I will ever be.
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