Purging The Demons

Week Two Of Marathon Training

Tying my sneakers angrily, I almost broke the laces as I thought about how I never seemed to have enough time to get anything done.

As anyone who has ever trained for a marathon knows, it is a real time eater.

Stressed and frustrated I just wanted the whole world to go screw itself. Grrr (*&$& Grrrrr.

My poor, unsuspecting nutjob running partner was on his way over to pick me up for our interval run. He was probably whistling a happy tune to himself, thinking how fun this would be. Nutjobs are like that.

Little did he know he was about to pick up the demon running partner from hell. Bad day at work, family issues, laundry piling up, when was the last time I vacuumed??? Grrrr *&(#*&(#*& Grrrrr.

What I wouldn't do for a little down time, but I couldn't blow off the run. It was only week 2 of marathon training, way too early to be screwing up our training. I usually try to hold off until at least week 9 before I do that.

Grrr #*&(*&@ Grrrrrr. Did I mention I was on my period? Grrr*#&(*#&&#.

"All set?" my running partner asked when we got to our trail. He set his shiny new Garmin 405, pretending not to notice my mood.

I stared coldly at him and wondered if it would be wrong of me to bite off his nose.

But then a funny thing happened during the first mile. As the sweating began, my thoughts began to shift to the task at hand.

How was my form? Was I running relaxed?

"Stop slapping your feet," he told me, and he was right. I corrected myself.

Dr. Nutjob quickened the pace and all I wanted was to not let the crazy son of a bitch get too far ahead of me.

"You can do it," I told myself. "Find your pace."

Somewhere along the trail, my black cloud lifted. Poof. All gone.

Running has a way of doing that to you.

Of all the benefits of running, I think "purging of the demons" is the most important one. I'm going to go out on a limb here - and I have no research to back me up - but I think that if everybody in the world became runners, there would be no war.

Who wants to fight after a good run?

Turn the Gaza Strip into a race course. Have Mahmoud Ahmadinejad strap on some sneakers and see what he's really made of.

Iraq? Check out those broad plains and reedy marshes, what a challenge.

There's nothing like a good run to purge the demons.

And of course the cold beer and warm bubble bath afterwards is pretty good too.