The road of excess...

…leads to the palace of wisdom. Or so some great sage was reported to have observed. And so by extension to the running world. When you run further than 13 miles you find out some interesting things about your body and your mind. If you have a defect in your bio mechanics, if your running style is inefficient, if your motivation is poor, then this is where it shows. On Sunday I ran an unprecedented 18 miles. Before the run I had anxieties. I’d never run this far before. Would I break down? Would it show that the marathon distance was beyond me. In the end the run was sublime. I got faster as the miles progressed and for short durations I found that ethereal state, that serenity that’s known as a runner’s high: in these moments I felt I could run forever. Now I know that I can run the marathon and I’m not afraid of it.