26.2 miles is too far to run with baggage...

Tomorrow I turn 40 and while there are a few things that make me pause for thought about this birthday, all-in-all I’m very much looking forward to it (this despite inadvertently watching a portion of the Dr. Oz show that was horrifyingly titled “Being Fab After 40” and during which the "doctor" informed me that as of tomorrow, I will be extremely overweight, constantly exhausted, covered in thin, veiny, dry, wrinkly skin and will most certainly be hormonally out of whack to the point of being irreversibly emotionally damaged… what a tool. So even though I'm apparently not supposed to, I feel better in every aspect of my life now than I ever have.  As my dad so lovingly put it during our outing earlier this week, “you’re younger now than you have been in years and there is no such thing as supposed to".  Instead of disagreeing and investing tons of energy informing him of all the ways that I'm old and am making all of the wrong choices in life, I said I agreed and I meant it. 

So, maybe it’s my age, maybe it’s all of this internet therapy (a.k.a. blogging) or maybe it’s all the time I’ve had with just me and my thoughts while running mile after mile after mile over the past 7 months but whatever the reason, I’ve been able to face some longstanding demons head on… 

I have forgiven myself and others, I have banished regret and I have let go.  Life is too short to live with remorse and 26.2 miles is too far to run with all that baggage.

I would like to think that I would have gotten to this space regardless of whether or not I had decided to run this marathon but quite honestly, I’m not certain I would have gotten to this point as early on as now without it.  The experience of training for the marathon has changed me… Running changed me in every possible way and I like what I see inside and out.

Enough of the heavy stuff… If I keep going on like that I’ll have to find a couch to lay down on and start paying you all by the hour! This morning’s 5 miles on yet another stunning SF morning (I know, I sound like a broken record but this place is amazing and it has the cost of living to prove it) were easy and went by quickly.  The toes are feeling better than they have in a long time, the knees have a serious crush on the magic tape, the foot thing seems to have subsided some and the weird hip thing seems to be holding at discomfort vs. actual pain so I’d say things are continuing to come together as best they can.  I’ve got one more training run of 4 miles and then it’s nothing but stretching, rolling, resting and eating (carb loading... it's like a dream come true!).

5 miles, 47min 57sec, avg 9:34

Cheers,

SF runner in training