Reason #7 - Pace

I am listing the 10 reasons that I desire to and will finish my first 26.2 during the final 10 days prior to the race. This is the 7th in the series.

Pace

My friend Chris R is only a few years older but much wiser than me. He noticed a couple of years ago that I was working way too much, and he told me to slow down. "Life is a marathon, not a sprint..."

I listened, but I am still young and still occasionally feel invincible, so I kept working too hard and too much. And then a year or so ago I took his advice, finally, and slowed down. I quit 1 job, I stopped lecturing, I stopped directing the med student rotation in EM... I started doing what I liked most from the beginning - seeing patients... And pacing myself...

I've always wanted, needed, to be more flexible... No we're not headed anywhere dangerous with this. Kids, keep reading... Seriously, I am so unflexible, my muscles are so tight, it's awful... I have trouble even touching my toes with my knees straight.

Many times I have started stretching routines, but each time I have been discouraged by a couple of weeks work with no measurable results. I was trying to sprint to get results...

Over the last 6 months since I started training, I've stretched more than ever. Not with a goal to become more flexible but with a goal to not be so damn sore after hard sessions. But you know what? I've become more flexible... I can touch my toes now... I can extend my back in ways I never thought would be possible... I'm not exactly Cirque de Sole material, but I'm proud of the results. It took pacing myself...

And so this marathon to me is an affirmation that there is nothing in life, or almost nothing, that is most pleasurable, most rewarding, in sprint form. If the results are instantaneous or come without significant effort, they probably are undeserved or will be underappreciated. If it takes great effort, the reward will be great.

And you cannot try to finish 20 years worth of work in 5 years. You'll kill yourself. And I can't run a marathon at 6 minute mile pace... I'll collapse before 5k is done.

I finally have learned about pace... In racing and in life...