American History K

As I prepare for Sunday's race, I also prepare to write the next chapter in my personal book of running.  This book began when I was very small and I would cheer for my father at his races; like the one in the picture in my last post (which according to him is copyrighted and I will be hearing from his lawyer any day now.)

Now my father, unlike me, is a very good runner.  He is very committed to running and doing it well.  Growing up watching this, I'm sure there was a part of me that thought, "I want to be just like my dad...and win all these trophies and run in the Boston Marathon and be totally awesome!!!"  And so, I started running.

There is some family discrepancy as to what my first race was...my parents claim that it was in Michigan and I ran it with my brother (probably true, but I don't remember it at all) and I claim it was a 5K in Worthington (that I do remember...well, at least I remember which pair of Umbro shorts I wore to it!)  Either way, I was about 8 years old and I am sure I did not set a land-speed record.  Regardless, I thought I was well on my way to fame and fortune...making the first few chapters of my book nothing but childish dreams of glory.

See 'my' trophy??  That's right, I'm awesome!!  ;)

I grew up a bit and started running cross country and track, where I continued to not set land-speed records.  I enjoyed myself, and I got a taste or two of success...but mostly because I was an average runner on an above average team.  My running book was more style than substance at this point...a meandering story searching for a plot.

Then, my dad ran his first ultra-marathon.  He didn't make the entire 100 miles...but he came pretty close.  While my mom and I crewed for him during the race, I saw just how accomplished these runners were...and none of them were setting land-speed records!  Watching this, I'm sure I thought, "I want to be just like my dad...and lose a toenail and be so sore that I can't sit down and be totally awesome!!!"  And I realized something about my running story: so what if I will never set a land-speed record??  And maybe I never will qualify for Boston.  But that doesn't mean I can't be the heroine of my own story, does it???

And so, this story line has dominated the last 12 or so years of my running book, and it will be the stratagem I will use to get me through the race on Sunday.  So, what will be the plot of this chapter?  Will it be the race to which I will hold up all other races?  Will it be a colossal failure during which I will deeply regret skipping most of my mid-distance training runs?  Only time will tell, but either way I fully intend on being the heroine crossing that finish line.  It is MY story, after all...