Zen me home

Seven weeks from Sunday is the New York marathon!

We will have been training for 9 weeks this Sunday so we are now at the midpoint in training. My legs recovered from the 18 miler last Sunday after about 2 days, which is faster than normal, so it seems the conditioning level is up.

One of the Zen thoughts that stuck with me from the Zen of Golf is worth sharing, I think, and since it is my blog, I will. The story goes that Arnold Palmer could arrive before a big golf tournament and by listening to other golfer's talk about the course, the weather and their game, he knew which golfers he had to beat. Someone would say, "there is too much wind"....Arnold would scratch him off his list, another might say "my swing is slightly off"...he was gone, still another might comment on how difficult the course was ....another non-competitor. The moral of this story is that you need to be ready to compete under whatever circumstances you find yourself in. Once you start complaining about the conditions, the course or yourself, you are setting up your excuses for a poor game, or poor race.

The author stated there are three simple rules:

1. Never complain,
2. About anything,
3. Even to yourself !

I think this lesson is a good one for running any race.

Conditions are never perfect. Too hot, too cold, rainy, humid, too windy, too sunny...you get the idea. Your body is never in perfect shape, from minor pains to bigger ones, our bodies are always talking back to us. And the courses are all easy to complain about. Too many hills, spectators (or none), water stops, starting time, etc.

As the training moves forward day by day, it parallels the second half of the marathon. You just have to accept the condition you find yourself in, and keep putting one foot in front of the other and repeat until finished.

Happy Trails!