No Más

It's official; I'm not running the Denver Marathon.

I joined my brother at the track last night, intending to do our weekly sprint workout. As I warmed up, it became obvious that my chronic hamstring tightness wasn't going to disappear, and that I'd have to run with caution to avoid further injury.

Oh, I did run the workout (main set: 8 x 400 on 2:30), but was never able to stride normally, and barely made the sendoffs. Pat left me in the dust -- but that happens even when I'm healthy. I did feel I achieved some training benefit, but probably not all that much. Still, it was a beautiful, warm evening, and it's always good to be outside. I enjoyed myself the best that I could.

But as I struggled through the laps, I found myself thinking about the one running goal I had for the summer -- completing the Colfax Marathon -- and I realized that it would take a miracle to achieve it. I am not saying that I don't believe in miracles (hey -- I buy Lotto tickets, don't I?), but even if my hamstring was suddenly and mysteriously cured, there's just not enough time between now and May 20th to do the training I'd need to do. Sigh.

I only entered the race because my pal Kim had signed up for it. Being smarter than me, he did a detailed analysis of his summer schedule a few months ago and realized that his training opportunities would be better suited to doing the half-marathon instead. I, on the other hand, continued to have faith that sitting at a desk all day and running a handful of miles each week would somehow convert my overly-buoyant body into a lean, mean, Ethiopian machine. But last night I realized that with just 6 weeks to go and a hamstring as tight as Ted Nugent's safari bow, it just wasn't going to happen, miracle or not.

Besides, I want my summer to be fun! I want to be able to hang out with my friends, enjoy my swimming and bike riding, and maybe even take in a movie every now and then. I'd like to visit Tanner in Seattle, do some camping up in Park County, and play the guitar enough to get my fingertip calluses back. Heck, even my blogging would be threatened if I decided to devote myself to a sport I have no talent for to begin with.

I am reminded of my favorite quote from Sugar Ray Leonard: "We're all given some sort of skill in life. Mine just happens to be beating up on people."

Some fortunate people (like the fellow to the right) are blessed with prodigious talent in multiple areas, but most of us must find a way to be content with a few skills that we can hopefully leverage well enough to live happy and fulfilling lives.

What are MY skills? Well, there are the obvious ones (pizza chef, self-haircut expert, and pace-clock interval calculator)...but there are probably some others. For example, I usually know which option to pick when the spell-checker makes suggestions. I make other guys look good just by standing next to them. And I know that despite Commie assertions to the contrary, Quadrotritacle was not inwented in Russia.

So, what are YOUR unique talents? It's probably a good question to ask once in a while. I think the luckiest people in the world are those who find their talents and passions early, and pursue them with enthusiasm. Are you one of them? Do your daily activities align with your natural gifts? I hope so.

Anyway, the point is that any running I do from this point forward will be for fitness, weight management, socializing, or (if my legs DO heal up at some point), fun. I'm just not going to stress about it. I'll just keep slapping on the BenGay, doing my stretching exercises once a month or so, and spending the majority of my exercise time doing sports I actually enjoy. Wish me luck, and have a great day!