Those were the days when you ran out the front door first thing on a summer morning to go find some buddies to play with. We lived in town, yet our street was gravel and was the cause of my
knee scar. Back then you fell off your bike, tumbled and picked up the bike and went back to it, otherwise you would been left behind. So much was spontaneous fun, just going from one thing to the next and most of the time staying out of trouble.
knee scar. Back then you fell off your bike, tumbled and picked up the bike and went back to it, otherwise you would been left behind. So much was spontaneous fun, just going from one thing to the next and most of the time staying out of trouble.
But one winter day I was with my brother Mark exploring along the river and since it is so much easier to walk on the frozen river than bushwhacking, we walked on the river. All of a sudden Mark goes through the ice, only to his calves, so being a good brother, I laughed so hard I couldn't talk, "Man mom is going to kill you!" Then to rub it in, I showed him exactly what he did while tears of laughter fell across my cheeks. Well, of course I broke through the ice and went even deeper, about knee deep so all that cold water went right into my rubber boots. Then it was Mark's turn to laugh, and he really enjoyed himself as folks could hear him laughing from miles around. Can't remember if we got yelled at, but I remember my feet were really cold by the time we sneaked back home.
During this training run I came upon a deer on the trail and she just kept on the trail running ahead of me 20-25 feet, looking back at me every once in awhile to check on me. After about 300 yards she ran off. You don't get that watching ESPN or "Desperate Housewives", for awhile I experienced the fun of my youth. Of course, the next curve in the trail reminded me of the adult world I live in as I see a sign next to the pond that says "No Swimming Allowed, Violators will be prosecuted." I can imagine a guy asking the other guy in the slammer, "What are you in for?", "Three to five for Swimming with intent to Cannon Ball."
The Greater Hartford Marathon is a fairly large marathon with about 3,500 runners between the full and the half. As I drove the 110 miles to Hartford on Friday, we had high winds and showers, but by race time it was a clear morning of about 40 degrees with a light wind. So everyone showed up for a fairly easy course through Hartford, CT streets. At about mile 7 you head out on a long loop that you end up turning around at about mile 12. Half way through you see the Elite runners going the other way - man are they fast. They will be at the finish line this day an hour and 30 minutes before me or when I hit mile 16 they are all done (26.2).
Soon it will be against the rules to run with headphones, so I tried going without them. It was good since I got to experience more of the race.
At mile 17 a lady looked at me and said, "I am dead from the waist down!" For a moment I thought it was someone I used to date, but it wasn't and I just told her to walk, but if she stops she won't be able to start up again and that would be the end of it. What she experienced is really just bad race management. When it comes to a marathon, you pace yourself regardless of the excitement of the starting line, otherwise you hit the wall and it is a terrible place to be - with still 9 miles to go, I don't know if she finished or not. But I have been where she has been and you feel helpless.
As usual, at the 26 mile marker, I turn it on. Of course by then that doesn't mean much, but you are giving it your all. One young guy didn't appreciate my sprinting up behind him and kicked my but - he wasn't going to let some old guy beat him. Maybe I am also getting better, not just older since once again I broke my best time - if only by 2 minutes, it was great!
When we are young and before we get all caught up in the Crap, we had fun most of the time. We would just go out and would be unafraid to try something new - we were told we could do anything. I remember seeing in my son David's eyes the excitement of going to Cub Scouts for the first time. And really that starts the process of going from carefree to careful. Peer pressure of criticisms and put downs that kids are so damn good at take their toll. David took a lot during that time period, more than most because he wore his heart on his sleeve, but he pushed beyond that.
Today David is the great father and husband I could only wish to be and in his professional life people compete to work in his store. Through it all, he never lost track of playing and having fun and it makes him the "one" people want to be with and that is a great achievement we all would be proud of. 
No comments:
Post a Comment