It’s Sunday, the day that God gave us to rest. So what does a marathon runner do with it? Run the LONG run. What part of “rest” did we not understand?
The enduring tradition of the Sunday long run has always challenged my logic. For sure, it rips “rest” right out of the day-of-rest equation. Boldly and unapologetically, it makes mincemeat of the day. And on Monday, the toll of the long run launches the week with a tiny net deficit in energy (even though we sleep GREAT on Sunday night). As many years as I have been pondering the insanity of it, I’ve rarely been able to re-order the universe and run the long run on … say, Wednesday night. Of course, at this stage of my piddling training, the term “long run” is sort of a misnomer. It’s more like a short-distance jog with intermittent walks and a full-blown halt once or twice to admire the azaleas in bloom by the path.
But the joy of today’s “long run” is remembering that the New York City Marathon is run on a Sunday. So perhaps I’ve begun imprinting the behavioral pattern into my training that in November, will translate into: “Hey, it’s Sunday! Today is the day we run the New York City Marathon!”
Besides, as all runners do, I know for sure that running restores a person’s soul. Like rest. Only better. It re-calibrates and refreshes parts of your spirit that kicking back only softens.
Run long; run strong. We can kick back later.
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