There is no finish line

Going on not very much sleep recently, here ...

I skipped today’s run to go to a running workshop that a local orthopedic clinic held in Auburn. The speaker of honor was Joan Benoit Samuelson, winner of the first-ever women’s Olympic marathon, over-50 women’s record holder for the marathon, and Freeport, Maine resident.

Joan Benoit Samuelson

Samuelson is local, and for that reason, sometimes its easy to overlook  what an impressive and inspiring athlete she is that lives among us. She spoke last after several doctors spent an hour and a half (dryly) discussing (very important!) health concerns for runners. That was informative, but Samuelson was the reason why I came.

In her short speech, she talked about her first Nike campaign back in 1990 — the slogan was “There is no finish line.” She said she didn’t know what it meant then, but this is what she knows now: It means that running is a lifestyle. You don’t stop because the race is over, or the goal was met. You don’t compromise your goals. You might need interim goals along the way, but don’t fall short of your dreams.

She talked about balance. In order to meet your goals, you have to balance running in your life. Then she went through her litany of recent races and acknowledged she doesn’t always practice what she preaches. 😉

To run, you need passion. Perseverance. Patience. And another P-word, which I should have written down, because I forgot it.

She talked about running your own race. That sometimes you can’t go out as fast others, but you’ll find your own pace.

We launched a big project at work today. We’ve worked really hard and I’m proud of it. 🙂 But I’m feeling haggard. One thing that running has taught me is that when I feel totally overwhelmed with task and I need to sap up every second hammering out bugs … running helps. It refocuses my mind. It increases my energy. And I have balance, so I can pace myself to work longer and be more productive than I could in a marathon (so-to-speak) project session.

I have Race the Runways this weekend, my first opportunity to revisit a half-marathon course. This was my first half-marathon when I ran it last year. It coordinates perfectly with a low-milage week in my marathon training plan. I am hoping to PR in this race — marathon training or not — and I am confident that I can. My best time at the half-marathon was set at this race last year: 2:13.

I think I could break 2 hours.

When I first wrote that sentence above, I had a lot of qualifiers on it, which I deleted after thinking about what Samuelson said. Positive thinking. I’ll wait to qualify it if I have to.

Pattie Reaves

About Pattie Reaves

I'm a new mom and renegade fitness blogger at After the Couch. I live in Brewer with my husband, Tony, our daughter Felicity, and our two pugs, Georgia and Scoop.