Wow! Who couldn’t fall in love with the Olympics! If there were a more pure form of human competition, I wouldn’t know what it would be! What a great two weeks of laying on my couch as much as possible and enjoying them.
Track and Field seemed particularly interesting this time around. Maybe my fond rekindling with running had a bit to do with that. World records were falling like leafs from a tree. The sprint races were great, but I was all jacked up about watching the marathon.
As the runners lined up in Tienanmen Square, the setting couldn’t have been more perfect. Seemingly a storybook picture for this classic event. The gun sounded and off the runners went. As they passed the first mile marker, the clock showed 4 minutes and 41 seconds. I about dropped my beer! What’s up with that? Do you think genetics play; dare I say, just a bit of a role in getting to that level? You better believe it! I thought to myself, if I was dropped from a mile-high building, I couldn’t fall at a 4:41 pace! – Let alone if I had to do it horizontally! That was unbelievable. The lead pack kept clicking off miles like they were nothing. The winning time smashed the Olympic record by a couple of minutes. All of this in high humidity and incredible heat! The top U.S. finishers were a respectable 9th and 10th place.
After watching this incredible event, I left with a renewed sense of peace and respect for the distance. Life is but a series of lessons, so what can I apply from watching these semi-mortals compete? First, there is only one winner. Did the performance of the other 98 +/- participants really matter? Of course it did! Next, even though 98 runners didn’t get the gold, what an honor to even be standing at the starting line. Third, if I could turn back time, train, and live my life like a professional athlete, I still couldn’t run a 4:41 mile, let alone 26 of them! Finally, since there is only one “recognized” winner, maybe going for the gold in the races I run shouldn’t be what running is about to me. Maybe making the commitment to get on the treadmill nearly every day, then go out at 5:30 AM on warm Sunday mornings and run my guts out – just to finish in the middle of the pack is truly the real gold medal! Maybe that is why we have champions and heroes in real life, so we can live vicariously though their talents and achievements because we may not be capable of reaching those on our own. Run on mid-packer, run on!
Track and Field seemed particularly interesting this time around. Maybe my fond rekindling with running had a bit to do with that. World records were falling like leafs from a tree. The sprint races were great, but I was all jacked up about watching the marathon.
As the runners lined up in Tienanmen Square, the setting couldn’t have been more perfect. Seemingly a storybook picture for this classic event. The gun sounded and off the runners went. As they passed the first mile marker, the clock showed 4 minutes and 41 seconds. I about dropped my beer! What’s up with that? Do you think genetics play; dare I say, just a bit of a role in getting to that level? You better believe it! I thought to myself, if I was dropped from a mile-high building, I couldn’t fall at a 4:41 pace! – Let alone if I had to do it horizontally! That was unbelievable. The lead pack kept clicking off miles like they were nothing. The winning time smashed the Olympic record by a couple of minutes. All of this in high humidity and incredible heat! The top U.S. finishers were a respectable 9th and 10th place.
After watching this incredible event, I left with a renewed sense of peace and respect for the distance. Life is but a series of lessons, so what can I apply from watching these semi-mortals compete? First, there is only one winner. Did the performance of the other 98 +/- participants really matter? Of course it did! Next, even though 98 runners didn’t get the gold, what an honor to even be standing at the starting line. Third, if I could turn back time, train, and live my life like a professional athlete, I still couldn’t run a 4:41 mile, let alone 26 of them! Finally, since there is only one “recognized” winner, maybe going for the gold in the races I run shouldn’t be what running is about to me. Maybe making the commitment to get on the treadmill nearly every day, then go out at 5:30 AM on warm Sunday mornings and run my guts out – just to finish in the middle of the pack is truly the real gold medal! Maybe that is why we have champions and heroes in real life, so we can live vicariously though their talents and achievements because we may not be capable of reaching those on our own. Run on mid-packer, run on!
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