WE ARE MARATHONERS

As I was computing in my cozy home office early this morning, sitting upright in my adjustable swivel chair and petting both of my young felines, I could feel the creaking and popping of my left knee whenever I would occasionally extend the leg forward. It was then that I began questioning what compelling factors keep us running and walking competitively. After all, life in general is but a perpetual treadmill. This includes the many hours we spend training on the countless roadways, pathways, even broken sidewalks sorely in need of repairs.

Not to appear cynical, but whenever we do our run and walk training we typically end up where we began. We even plan it that way. That seems pointless, ending up where you began!  

Even though we strained, was anything really gained? The soles of our shoes are less for the effort, joints are worn, allotted heart beats squandered, all for the grandeur of completion.

This rather self-destructive sport of our choosing seemingly has its pitfalls, none greater than the issue of the joints spoken of earlier. Our feet are cruelly disrespected, our breathing tested, our endurance assessed, but the joints - they seemingly are doomed. Mine are a textbook testament.

But we keep plodding forward in this perpetual, questionable quest of ours to conquer long expanses within a predetermined time-frame.

As age advances, the clock becomes an enemy of self. It then becomes all about the distance and our willingness to endure. Failure is not an option.

Why, then, must we self-inflict endurance pain when life itself is a test of stamina? Is it for glory, recognition, health, possibly all the above?

To help beat the clock and cover the distance, we purchase small GPS systems that conveniently strap to our wrist. I own one myself, a modern state-of-the-art Garmin. I would be lost without it. High tech, we runners and walkers have become. We are  tolerantly waiting for the next generation in running and walking technology. When will the Garmin ease my agony, repair my infirmities, shorten the distance?

Still, there is clearly an upside to our apparent madness, but only we long-distance runners and walkers recognize it or have felt it. We even crave it. We will keep seeking it.

Euphoria, jubilation, triumph, that's what it’s all about. That rapturous feeling that embraces every fiber of our weary bodies, mind and soul after completing a long run. We may be dog tired, barely able to stand, but we’ve gained value and self-respect while losing nothing but shoe tread.

We are, after all, marathoners.