Halfway and The Triumph of Desire Over Reason (Journey to Marathon: Third in a Series)

The halfway point on this journey, was the Koala/Luke's Locker Half Marathon, which I completed in 1:55:18 -- just under my unofficial 2-hour goal. I'll spare everyone the blow-by-blow, though one aspect of the race escapes that forbearance: pacing. My great victory at this race was pacing. It's the most important part of these endurance runs, and it's the skill of running--the rest is just being crazy enough to try. I managed a pace beginning at 8:45 min./mile and tapering down to 8:30 min./miles. Marathon day survival depends on how well I pace out.

Several runners at the race Sunday wore shirts which read, "Marathoning: the triumph of desire over reason."-- the most succint explanation of the mental process that one goes through in attempting this distance running obsession. Of course it's already a joke, but still--while running I kept thinking the logic doesn't really work, because--why would somebody desire to run for 3+ hours? Despite questioning it, I still want it, but the mystery remains.