I was living it up in Boston last week after running my first sub-3. I was celebrating with friends, grinning from ear-to-ear as I got a ridiculous inflow of praise via text, email, Facebook and Twitter. I did it. I got it done. I worked hard and made it happen. I was listening to songs on my iPod like “Standing On Top Of The World” by Van Halen and “Moment For Life” by Nicki Minaj. I was pretty proud of myself. And really, I needed to be humbled.
I don’t believe in coincidence. So, enter God into this story. On my way out of town to the airport, I was riding the T — Boston’s subway system. I hopped on a Green Line at Kenmore Square and happened to get into train that had a special handicap section. I don’t think I’d ever noticed one of those sections on the T during any of my four trips to Boston. There were two men in wheelchairs sitting right there, and I can say for certain that I’d never seen anybody in a wheelchair on there.
That was the moment where the record screeched and everything went silent for me. I had been listening to an upbeat playlist, but I didn’t hear it any more. As I’ve mentioned before, I broke my neck in 1991. When you get pushed head-first into the shallow end of a pool, with guys on your arms and back, and you land on your head so hard that your neck breaks, you’re not supposed to walk again. You’re not supposed to run again. But if by God’s grace you do, you need to be always thankful for that gift.
So, I was immediately humbled. One of the men got off the train and I didn’t get much of a chance to observe him. But I looked at the second guy. He barely had enough strength in his hand to control his electric wheelchair. He was probably somewhere between 35 and 45. I couldn’t really tell — he had a mustache that made me think he looked older than he was. He was on his own, doing his own thing. I don’t know who was waiting for him wherever he was going, but the existence I saw looked pretty lonely.
That could have been me. That should have been me. Back when I had my accident, I had wished that I ended up in a wheelchair because of the attention I would have gotten. But God had other plans, and I’m grateful for that. I like the attention I get from my wife and my three kids. And I got plenty of attention as a result of Operation Jack.
Like I said, I don’t believe in coincidence. My ego was bursting a little too much by late Tuesday afternoon, so I was humbled. I like it when that happens.
Training Update
Yesterday at lunch, I went to the gym for a quick four-miler. I used to just take it easy on my lunchtime four-milers, setting the treadmill at 7.0 (that’s an easy pace for me) and plodding along for 34 minutes. But I switched that up towards the end of my Boston cycle. 7.3 is still fairly easy for me, so I set it at that, plus I do progressive inclines, upping it from 0 to 3.5 over the course of the run to get some hills in. It’s a nice little workout that’s not too hard on my legs but gets my heart ticking a little bit. Yesterday, I progressively bumped the speed up to 7.7 over the last two miles because I felt like moving a little bit. All-in-all, 4 miles in 32:32 with I think 325 feet of gain.
This morning, I really had to talk myself into going on my run. I’m still battling this cold and I really wanted to go back to bed. But I told myself I’d be kicking myself all day if I didn’t run. So I ran. I had time for about 14, so I went seven miles out and turned back. I got a bunch of good hills in and averaged about 7:35/mile over 14.3 miles. It felt nice to run and I’m right where I left off at the end of my last cycle, which is a pretty good place for me before I even start the meat and potatoes of training for San Francisco.
Tweet of the Day
I’m getting over a cold, so I’m fussing a little bit here and there on Twitter. On my lunch break yesterday, I went to the gym for a quick four-miler, and checked in with something like, “Trying to sweat out a cold,” on Foursquare. Then I posted my run on dailymile afterwards.
Then I saw this:
I’ll give it to her … she has a point. It’s all relative, but it’s kind of funny when she puts it that way.
OK, That’s All For Today
See you tomorrow, I think. I think I know what I’m going to post, so I might as well post it, right? Have a great Tuesday!
Ulyana says
You are an incredible person. That’s all I’ve got to say, really 🙂