April 7, 2017 at 4:28 p.m.
Race day is almost here
Line Drives
It’s almost here.
For more than a year I’ve been running through Portland, Dunkirk, Pennville, Fort Wayne and three Michigan cities.
For more than a year I thought what it would be like to run a half marathon.
Since August, I’ve been training to find out.
And it’s almost time.
Twenty-nine days from now I will be among tens of thousands of others at the starting line of the Indy Mini in Indianapolis. I’ll be staring through the droves of competitors — many more athletic and faster than me, others less so — past the spectators, anxiously awaiting for their friends or family to pass by.
Some may have signs. Others may have noisemakers. Most will be cheering.
For more than a year I’ve been running through Portland, Dunkirk, Pennville, Fort Wayne and three Michigan cities.
For more than a year I thought what it would be like to run a half marathon.
Since August, I’ve been training to find out.
And it’s almost time.
Twenty-nine days from now I will be among tens of thousands of others at the starting line of the Indy Mini in Indianapolis. I’ll be staring through the droves of competitors — many more athletic and faster than me, others less so — past the spectators, anxiously awaiting for their friends or family to pass by.
Some may have signs. Others may have noisemakers. Most will be cheering.
I’ll be at the starting line looking ahead at the biggest physical challenge of my life, the 13.1 miles that separate me from completing a task I have been working toward for more than a year.
In this final month I’ll be tested. Saturday, I have to run 8 miles — longer than I’ve ever ran to this point.
(I’ll be running in the Jay Community Center Sprint to Spring 5K as part of it, so say hi if you see me!)
A week later, I will run 10 miles, and the week after that I’ll be logging the 11.6 miles it is from my apartment to Fort Recovery.
Mentally, the thought of running 8 or 10 miles seems daunting. I can’t fathom quite yet going 13.1 miles.
But in order to get to 13.1 miles, I must first get to 8. And then 10.
So if you happen to see me running through Portland, or along county road 200 South on my way to Fort Recovery, wave. Honk the horn. Scream out the vehicle window (safely, of course). Any and all encouragement I attempt to get mentally tough for the long distances that are in front of me is greatly appreciated.
I officially set my sights on running this half marathon in August, and on Aug. 4 I wrote a column that began with the following quote from Dean Karnazes:
“Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.”
Since then, I’ve ran my fair share. I’ve walked, too. I have yet to crawl, though a recent — albeit minor — knee injury made me think I would have to.
I’m well prepared to do whatever it takes — run, walk or crawl — to get to that finish line May 6, look back at what I just accomplished and raise my hands to the sky.
Since I began running in early 2016, I’ve had a host of people — both those I know and those I don’t — approach me and tell me their stories of running in Indianapolis.
It’s the Fort Recovery parents who ran before their children were born and hope to get back in it. It’s the man at the business expo Saturday who said he ran for more than 30 years and admired my dedication. It’s the wife of an school administrator who said it was enjoyable, a comment that led me to attempt the half marathon in the first place.
Honestly, the stories never get old. I love hearing them.
Soon I’ll be able to tell my own story.
It’s almost here.
In this final month I’ll be tested. Saturday, I have to run 8 miles — longer than I’ve ever ran to this point.
(I’ll be running in the Jay Community Center Sprint to Spring 5K as part of it, so say hi if you see me!)
A week later, I will run 10 miles, and the week after that I’ll be logging the 11.6 miles it is from my apartment to Fort Recovery.
Mentally, the thought of running 8 or 10 miles seems daunting. I can’t fathom quite yet going 13.1 miles.
But in order to get to 13.1 miles, I must first get to 8. And then 10.
So if you happen to see me running through Portland, or along county road 200 South on my way to Fort Recovery, wave. Honk the horn. Scream out the vehicle window (safely, of course). Any and all encouragement I attempt to get mentally tough for the long distances that are in front of me is greatly appreciated.
I officially set my sights on running this half marathon in August, and on Aug. 4 I wrote a column that began with the following quote from Dean Karnazes:
“Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.”
Since then, I’ve ran my fair share. I’ve walked, too. I have yet to crawl, though a recent — albeit minor — knee injury made me think I would have to.
I’m well prepared to do whatever it takes — run, walk or crawl — to get to that finish line May 6, look back at what I just accomplished and raise my hands to the sky.
Since I began running in early 2016, I’ve had a host of people — both those I know and those I don’t — approach me and tell me their stories of running in Indianapolis.
It’s the Fort Recovery parents who ran before their children were born and hope to get back in it. It’s the man at the business expo Saturday who said he ran for more than 30 years and admired my dedication. It’s the wife of an school administrator who said it was enjoyable, a comment that led me to attempt the half marathon in the first place.
Honestly, the stories never get old. I love hearing them.
Soon I’ll be able to tell my own story.
It’s almost here.
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