Humpty Dumpty

I have never been a runner. I would even go so far to say that I actually immensely dislike it as a form of exercise. I loved sports and dance, etc.. and have always been athletic, but the idea of running several miles never really appealed to me. When I did run, I ran fast. Very fast. But never for long distances. At 5'2 (ok- 5'1 and 3/4), I am probably not meant to be a long distance runner either. For every two steps Greg takes, I take three.

However, I have always wanted to do a marathon. Only once. And the opportunity presented itself- while down here in Buenos Aires. After five knee surgeries- I also figured a sixth one would be tolerable.

While the city has several wonderful attributes, clean air is not one of them. Oxygen is actually pretty hard to come by- that is oxygen free from exhaust, parilla grill smoke, and cigarette smoke. But here I am, towards the end of my training- with about 5 weeks to go until the big day. We only now just found out that we can run in the ecological reserve- a five mile dirt path loop, free from cars and dog poo.

For the past several weeks, Greg and I have spent our mornings and Saturdays running. Today we had a training run of 18 miles. We have one last long training run of 20 miles- somehow a 12 mile run has become an easy day.

It is quite possibly the hardest thing I have ever done. I would equate it to giving birth once a week for a woman- no epidural offered. There is always a small part of you that wants to stop- you want it all to be over so you can have the end result. The part of you grows as the time goes by. And like the US deficit- once it gets going, it grows faster and larger by the minute.

Initially, it is easy to ignore. The mind is a powerful tool for pushing you beyond your limits. When you finish, every muscle- from your toes to you lower back- are cursing you. We usually get in a cab to go home- and I limp up to the shower in my apartment- every body part pulsating in pain. I think I fully understand what it will feel like to be 100.

So before- when someone said that they have run a marathon- I thought....wow that's great. I never fully appreciated the accomplishment it was. If I could run 1 mile, how hard would it be to do that 25 more times? Can it really be that hard? I have realized that their are limits your body has- it is not the invincible machine I once thought it was. And I have realized that mile 15 is not as easy as mile 1- at least not now....

So to those who have run a marathon- I salute you. It is an incredible accomplishment. I let you know if I make it through.