Extraordinarily Ordinary

Today was the last Sorta Long Run. This is the last Wednesday that entails looking at the running calendar trying to fit in big time chunks for running in the middle of the week. It’s kind of strange to think that this time next week I won’t be thinking about running for survival. I mean, I know what I’ll be doing this time next week: absolutely nothing! But, it’s really difficult to wrap my head around the fact that this long 18 week training process is coming to an end. In life “they” always say it’s the Journey that counts and not the Destination. Well, it’s been some journey, that’s for sure.

I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned about myself is, I can strive for a goal purely out of self fulfillment and not because of some competitive objective. I have set many goals just to prove I can “win it” or beat someone else. I was worried that I would start my marathon training and feel like I was sucking so bad that I would talk myself right out of it. Historically, if I feel like I am just awful at a certain task, I will talk myself right out of doing it. I began my training by setting lofty time goals and it was quite probable that if I didn’t feel up to achieving this, I wouldn’t finish my training. Well, I have come to find out, that I’m ok with sucking.

My goal for this marathon is purely to finish and if I can do it under 5 hours, it will be a bonus. This training process has reminded me how hard you truly have to work at something just to be ordinary at it. I have seen this statement made a couple of times, “A marathon is something extraordinary that an ordinary person can accomplish.” Trust me, I am an ordinary marathon runner. I am not looking for an award on October 11th or to fulfill any life long dreams or to make a statement to those around me. I’m running for me. I am running to achieve an extraordinary goal while just enjoying the sheer accomplishment of it. Perhaps some day I will get back into competitive running, but this is not the day. It’s a weird thing this marathon does to you, and I haven’t even stepped foot to the starting line. To think, Starrin would ever be ok with “just a participation trophy.” But yes, it’s true! I’m extraordinarily JV and proud of it.