BIRD BY BIRD

Yesterday morning I ran 14 miles. I started before 6:30 AM to beat the heat. It was near 90 when I finished. It was a difficult run not so much physically as mentally challenging. There was a loud conversation going on that lasted for much of the two and a half hours it took to run. The conversation was all in my head. What I kept hearing was, “What were you thinking? Running a marathon cannot be good for your body. No one will care if you decide to drop out. It’s too hot in Atlanta to train for a marathon. “ And so on, and so on, and so on. “So say we all”
Fortunately there was another voice present. The part of me that knew this was a goal worth pursuing from the start. There are a lot of reasons for running a marathon including health benefits, feeling of accomplishment, a unique way to tour New York and others. But what I kept hearing during my run was I’m going to do it because I said I would. I’m going to do it because it is important for me to rise to a challenge. I’m going to do it because I can.
While I was running yesterday I thought about Ann Lamont’s book, “Bird by Bird”
She tells the story about her 10 year old brother who had to write a report on the birds of North America. After procrastinating for 3 months he was down to wire and had done nothing. Surrounded by books on the subject and at the point of tears he asked his Dad how he would ever write the report. His Dad sat down next to him and said, “Bird by bird buddy, just take it bird by bird.”
That is how I’m running and training for the New York Marathon. Bird by bird, one training day at time, one more hill, just one step at time. I’m doing because I said I was going to do it. It is important that I do what I say I’m going to do especially when it’s me I’m talking to.