Winning the marathon

Beat the Clock

There were some excellent comments on yesterday's posting, and I appreciate them. One, from Andrew, brought back memories of competition and winning. I was once quite active in competitive Judo...when I was younger. Later in life (during my 50s, but I digress), I took up running. As often happens with the "You-should" syndrome, I ran longer and longer and, one day, discovered I was training for a marathon.

I did my home work, took a year to train and knew exactly how fast I could do the "race". I say "race" since I had no expectations of finishing first...or 100th for that matter. I ended up doing the Milwaukee Ladefront Marathon 3 times (best time 3.5 hours, an 8 minute/mile pace, and I digress again). But this particular memory goes back to the day after my first outing.

A friend asked me how the marathon had gone, and I said, "I won." That stopped him dead in his tracks. "You won? You were first?" "No," I replied, "I was xxxxxth (don't remember)."

I left him perplexed, but I knew what I had meant. I had met my challenge, my personal goals, and I had run my race, my way with near-perfect results. Then, I spent the rest of the week going down stairs backwards (marathon runners will know wht that means).

I think that is what Andrew is shooting for, and I honor him for it.

Paddle safe...

DS