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Dr. Robert, she had me promise that Boston would be my last marathon (had she not been a marathoner herself she probably would have been foolhardy enough to suggest that I retire pronto, but we all choose our doctors, dont we?) and I wanted to pay homage to this great big race with my best effort (and pay it back the honour of having me in the first place, even though this was my second time). My best effort it was, even though I was almost 15 minutes slower than last year and almost half an hour slower than a marathon one year before that. I am not a marathoner, just a triathlete who gave this sport a try because I just had to see if, and met with the kind of success I had not been expecting, or even wishing for.
Even though I knew I was not a marathoner I was impertinent enough to solicit your support (and was even awarded with the friendship of so many of you. You are ALL real marathoners, back packers, first timers, old timers and the fast, and I respect you all for that. I often felt I could not contribute as you all did - you all seemed to possess the right stuff and I was just there. But I tried to import the few things I knew into this great sport of yours and I think I happened to contribute as well from time to time).
I will not let my latest contre-performance blemish my experience of last Monday. The down hills got the best of my injured sacroiliacs, but I finished (and in respectable form, although I didnt know before then that anything could hurt so much). I did not need all this pain to make it feel right but it was there and I accepted it. Im glad I did.
Very often, as I was trying to urge myself on (quitting was not an option) I thought of the things many of you had said in your posts
Please forgive this long post, as it will be my last. I came into this space cause I wanted your support and counsel. And there was Hopkinton and Dave and Ollie and Bambi and Scott and NYC and RNR and Zeke and Steve and all the others
and in came Voudou and her contributions made us all feel so good about running.
Some of us had to immigrate here in the Get Along corridor. This is a cool place and with time my mentors dropped by, happily.
It is because of this space that I got to get closer to many of you (thanks RNR for your short story, but Im taking my sweet time of it, reading at a snails pace, is there another way?).
But lets not forget that we existed here because of the ungracious posts on the Main BB, the Voodoo baiting
and, sil vous plaît, what about this Observer bashing! If they only knew
The last post Hopkinton left for me was entitled North peace. I was glad to read this because one of the things I liked to say in my observations was to run with peace
This is what this sport is really about. You can be anywhere in the world, even in times of turmoil and distress, pick it up, jog on the road that will greet you, and leave footprints of peace.
Je vous aime, most of you
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