1 post tagged “karnazes”

Once again, our man Dean Karnazes shares what he knows best, which is the power of mind over matter (though his power is considerably greater than, well, any other runner I'd dare to imagine). His thoughts on The Marathon — not any specific race, but the complete and formidable challenge of the event itself — ring so true from my experience that I can't help but share them: The Marathon.

In particular, this quote strongly recalled for me a key moment around mile 11 this past fall, just before making the swing west out of the city center and into the dark heart of the back half of Chicago:

You remain steadfast, knowing that you did not skimp, that you did not take shortcuts along the way, that every footstep was earned through months of diligent preparation. Still, with each wearing thrust forward, that little nagging inclination of self-doubt progressively advances toward the surface of your awareness.

At that point in the race, not even close to spent, I labored under a sudden wash of doubt; about qualifying for Boston, about keeping up a 7:28 pace in unyielding, raw headwinds, about even finishing the damn thing at all. I became completely aware of the madness of the moment, in a way no training run or even my first marathon in 2001 had prepared me to face. I think that moment has to come to every marathoner, whether or not they recall it vivdly. A whisper under the cadence of your breath becomes raspier — "long way...to go...long way...to go" — and the rhythm of the doubt itself insinuates itself into your stride.

How do you break it?

Courage comes in many forms, today you will have the courage to keep trying, to not give up, no matter how dire things become. And dire they do become.

It's courage. Something we all have but too often fail to tap into. Courage that muffles the doubting voice and its stinging cadence. It might be someone shouting your name as you grind past the 25th mile marker; it might be stretching a cramped calf that seems ready to flap itself up underneath your kneecap like cheap windowshade, filling you with grim resignation, but it suddenly recovers just enough flex to allow you to get back in the flow of traffic; it might be just the right song at just the right time on your player.

Or, it might be the thought of telling someone "I tried, but I just couldn't."

I recalled what coworker and Boston native Eric Olson told me a couple days before the race: "Why not you?" That's the 2004 Red Sox down 0-3 and winning out from there, that's Lance winning seven Tours, that's Eruzione hurling his gloves in the air and jumping on his teammates as the Soviets skate off the ice in disbelief. All in one.

I'm finishing the damn thing.