Glory Days
In less than six weeks, I'll lace up the shoes for marathon #9 in Washington, DC for the Marine Corps Marathon. I've been looking to this race now for several months, and have had decent, but not great training so far. When I have had poor runs, it is because of weakness between my ears more so than weakness in my legs. I write this now as much for myself as it is for the reader. For most of my "un-illustrious" career as a runner the one thing that I had in spades was mental toughness. Not so this time around. Perhaps it is a lack of confidence because I haven't run one in over four years now. Perhaps it is a factor of experience, and I can't approach it with the blissful ignorance I did many years ago. Perhaps it is age, and the creeping reality that I'm not as fast or as strong as I used to be. Golfers as they hit their forties are well known for getting "the yips." The four foot putt for par that used to be routine years ear...