Physical Therapy

Though I reference it in this site’s title, I haven’t posted yet about running. I do run, these days about six times a week for 3-4 miles. The hobby was one I took up after high school as a substitute for the physical activity I’d always gotten playing organized team sports. For the most part, running serves as my meditation. I usually run first thing in the morning. It clears my head, gets my blood pumping, and provides an accomplishment no matter how poorly the rest of the day goes.

However, now and then I like to indulge my competitive spirit, test how in shape I am, and run a race. In the past, I’ve actually trained to increase my speed, but I haven’t been motivated enough to do that recently. So now, I tell myself (or others that I’ve signed up with) that I’m not really going to race, I’m just going to run for fun. This is a lie. I may start off at a normal pace, but that usually doesn’t last past mile one or two. And I _always_ give a hard finish.

Yesterday I participated in this race. It was cold and windy and damp and generally miserable. The blossoms weren’t out yet, but the course was still pretty – taking us along the Potomac, into Rock Creek Park. I’ve never raced 10 miles, and I hadn’t done anything to really prepare for the distance (aside from doing a long run two weeks ago to reassure myself that my legs wouldn’t fall off if I ran more than 4 miles). So, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the time passed. Since I’m a people watcher, it helped that I had 10,000 other runners to ogle at as I trotted along. Because the course looped back on itself at few times, there were points where the lead runners passed the rest of us slobs. There’s a certain thrill I experience watching elite runners, out in the front of the pack, working every muscle of their sinewy bodies – raw competition and human striving.

But I have to say, the most satisfying part of the run was the last 400 meters, where I kicked up the pace and pounded by a dozen runners or so. After crossing the finish line with a time of 1h 15 min 20 sec, an athletic looking guy came up to me “Hey, that wasn’t fair! You came out of nowhere!” “Well,” I said, “I saved a little extra for the end.” “That means that you could have run the whole course a few minutes faster” he replied. Perhaps, but the exhilaration of finishing strong, over-taking competitors, provides a very immediate and gratifying sense of winning. Not a cure, but certainly a nice antidote for my recently re-activated inferiority-complex.