(email June
26, 2009)
Mark,
In the early 1990's a friend
of mine from Utah was involved in an expedition to Mt. Everest. John made
it as far as the "Hillary Step" and had to turn back because of the
deteriorating weather and fatigue. You might say he made it to the 23
mile mark of a marathon. As the month of May developed it turn out
that this was the only chance he was to be allowed before the team was required
to leave Base Camp. Because he "went for it", John's life was
changed for the better. He has since become a very successful
business man and motivational speaker.
I know how you feel about the marathon experience. It can be
devastating, if we allow it to be. I had a similar situation years ago
getting ready for the speed skating season and the Olympics trials.
Sometimes things happen completely beyond our control and all we can do is
make the best of it. But it is never wasted. The total
experience, the training, the mental prep, the constant self analysis, the
commitment and effort, all these things change us; and change us for the better.
Life has a slightly different trajectory after such a commitment than it did
before.
That aside, we are extremely proud of you that you "went
for it" and did not let the weather force you off track. Some
might say you should have altered your plans, but your goal was to PR, not
just run another marathon. As one friend of mine once said, "it
is not fail to try and fail, and try and fail again; we fail when we try and
fail, and fail to try again." Once you are fully recovered, I
have this strange gut feeling that you are going to be a total pain the ass to
beat this summer and through the fall. Be kind to yourself and make
sure it happens.
We are really sorry to hear about Julie. Please send her our
most heartfelt best wishes for her complete and speedy recovery.
Surgery can really take a lot out of a person, but fortunately in her
favor she was in very good condition going into this. Patience
is rarely a strong point for most runners, and this will take time to
bounce back from. She needs to listen to her body, and you can help
her with this, and not demand more of it than it is able to
handle. The last thing she needs is an injury on top of all
this. As a follow up quote to my article "The Art of
Running", Mark Wetmore once stated, "We try to learn to pay attention
to sensory data. There is no machine or device that is as accurate as
that, if you learn how to read it. It's hard to learn how to
read it; some people never learn." In the context of what he
was talking about at the time, some runners are living so far in the
future with regards to what they hope and dream to achieve, that they are
never in the 'now time' long enough to pay attention what their body is telling
them today. Again, I think you are well qualified to give some excellent
advice to her in expediting the process.
Stay in touch.
All the best,
Bart and Eve
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