3 Days until OBX

As I was driving down to OBX today, there was plenty of time to think and listen to the radio.

Maybe I had too much time to think.

How are running a marathon and life similar?

Well, in life, the first 20 years are pretty easy while you are living at home. Similarly, in the first 10 miles of marathon people are talking, smiling, and having fun. The next 40 years of life are spent working hard and making something of yourself. The next 10 miles of the marathon are where you make or break your race. You have to run hard and feel more and more tired with each mile. In the next 20 years of life, things get tougher as age begins to have an effect on the body – slowing us as we try to do the same things we did much faster 10, 20, 30 years ago. The last 10k of the marathon is the same way. Miles that were easy for the first 10 miles and became tougher during the next 10 miles now seem nearly impossible to match during those last 6.2 miles. Near the finish, we all look back whether in life or in a marathon and remark at our accomplishment(s).

Just to let everyone I have hit OBX earlier today. The house wasn't ready so we had to do some other stuff until it was. I spent my time running over the trail section of the OBX course. I felt that I struggled here last year because I didn't preview it. That was one mistake that I hopefully corrected this year. For some reason, it seemed less difficult than last year. Don't get me wrong, having a trail section in the middle of marathon is no piece of cake. Short steep hills, shifting footing, and tons of pine needles make it a tough section to navigate. After the run, the house still wasn't ready so I went over to the Expo. OBX puts on a nice expo and picked up my race stuff. Following the expo, grabbed some food for the house at Food Lion. Hope this is a rocking weekend.

-btw I picked up a nice OBX jacket and hat. For some reason, I only went for the hat last year.

The only other thing that I bought was gloves. If race morning is cold, I can throw off the gloves after a few miles.

Well, that is it for this evening. Getting ready for dinner and some rest.

 

Tales from a runner at the outer banks.