Seattle Marathon: Part 2
Yesterday I ran my third marathon. I finished at 05:04:29, my slowest time yet. In comparison, earlier this year, my fastest half-marathon was completed at 02:01:10. If I kept that pace up, I would have finished at 04:02:20, an hour ahead of today’s finishing time. But I made it a point to not be so hard on myself. The most important thing is to finish.
At Mile 14, the familiar sharp pain in my knee crept up again. The pain slowed my pace down considerably, to the point where I was shuffling my feet like an old granny Ronnie. Even old ladies were passing me.But I never stopped. By Mile 22, my mind had blanked out. All I remember was running down the Aurora Bridge, hallucinating shifting colors. A gentle voice said, “keep going. You have got to keep going.”
It was my own.
You may have heard one of Aesop’s Fables, “The Tortoise and the Hare.” If not, it’s a story of how the Tortoise challenges the Hare to a race, since she was tired of his arrogance. The Hare, with his overconfidence, sets out in a fast pace, quickly leaving her behind. Confident that he will finish, he takes a nap. Eventually, the tortoise passes him, and when he wakes up, it’s too late–she is the first to cross the finish line. There are different interpretations of this fable, and the most common one seems to be that perseverance wins in the end.
Injuries aside, I was never the strongest or the fastest; usually I was always the last picked in gym. But somehow, I have a knack for endurance sports. I may be slow, but my pace is consistent… Like the Tortoise.
When I crossed the finish line, I wasn’t even upset about the finishing time, knowing that there was a good chance the injuries could slow me down. But I made it. And there’s always next time.
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