Big gulps, huh?

I made it through yesterday. 18 miles ...in one big gulp.

I had plans with a friend to play tennis today, and I was signed up for a 5k this morning...but neither one has happened. My knees and joints are so sore I can hardly walk. Last night, I went to the bar to watch Mizzou whoop up on SEMO only to leave early because of my throbbing legs. Ouch.

As my training inches closer to culmination and with my body acting as a constant reminder, I'm starting to notice its cumulative effects on my mind. In life, I tend to do things quickly. While deftness at high speeds allows me to master some things, it impairs my ability to be successful at others. This marathon training makes patience a goal in itself. Instead of using patience as a tactic to achieve some other objective... lucid patience becomes the goal. Ironically, I am more peacefully confident and relaxed than I can remember being at any other time. Because I am forced to accept my physical self as is, I am more open to accept my metaphysical self. I am more open to accepting the limits and the realities of others as well. I am satisfyingly helpless.

Maybe I make too much of a few months of marathon training. But this is what I do. I make big deals out of daily things. I put a lot of weight on everything I see, do, hear, etc. This is how I keep learning and growing, and it's how I prefer life to be.