For the past few months, I have been chronicling my journey to the Long Island Marathon, or at least Tweeting my training runs. It's now the final stretch, two days to go, and this Sunday I’ll hopefully have one more check on my “bucket list”. Of course everybody has their own list, and ideally it seems that the items added should be just a bit more unattainable than they were in past lists.
We all start out with our own lists- crawling, walking, running, finishing high school, not getting stuffed into a locker again, finishing college, graduate school, career, family, some subjective form of success. But it's nice to have other goals. This is a big one for me personally, and leaves me with a few, such as finishing an entire cycle of the Talmud, which I plan to do this year (more on that later), as well as some professional and personal goals.
But believe me, if this NYC foot doc can do it, anyone can. I am by no means a natural athlete, and was always the guy picked last for the team and voted most likely to run the ball the other way (don't ask). As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I started out slow, and there was a time that 3 miles seemed like a really long run. Moving further away from my regular route forced a bump up to five miles for my regular short run. After a little push, 10 miles became the standard, and now 15 miles is fairly effortless, albeit a little rough on the knees (!). So despite the advice of my friend the orthopedic surgeon, I continue to run and increase my mileage (making sure, of course, to implement important running and stretching routines).
And this is where the lesson is brought home. Just like running, life is a mind trip. We have to keep going, move beyond our comfort zones, do what doesn't seem possible, and maybe sometimes, ignore minor aches and pains. The endorphin rush will propel us forward, and in the end, upon reaching the goal, it is all worth it. And of course, the journey should be a blast. I'm just hoping I can make it through those last few painful miles and triumphantly cross the finish line so I can tweet some good pics.
See you in the office.
Dr. Ernest L. Isaacson
