Track and Field

'Life's a marathon not a sprint.' My mom used to say this whenever I wasn't getting immediate gratification.

My brother is running a 50 mile race tomorrow. That's not a typo. A marathon is 26 point something miles so I don't know what you call what he's doing except stupid. But stupid in the good way like "Man that party was so cool it was stupid". My other siblings have run marathons but I've never quite understood. I don't even like walking down my driveway to get the mail.

The other day my girlfriend, Jen, told me she was starting to train for the marathon in March. I, on the other hand, was starting to make the plans for my annual St Patrick's Day bash. No wonder I wouldn't describe myself on an online dating site as being "fit". Legend has it, the word marathon comes from a man who ran from Marathon, Greece to Athens ( still Greece ) to deliver the message that the battle had been won. He preceded to keel over and die. So in my mind, Jen was basically telling me she was training to fall to her death. History shows us, it just doesn't seem like a natural thing for the body to do. And I'm not going to pretend to understand it, yet I will always be impressed by anyone who takes the phrase "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger" to heart.

But this is my brother who was a straight A student, attended the United States Navel Academy and by the time he was 30 had graduated law school, was a partner in a successful firm and had a house, 3 dogs and a kid. Sorry, a house, 3 kids, and a dog. I can't keep up. Meanwhile, I have a Toyota and my bartender friend Javier at the local Irish pub who hooks me up with happy hour prices anytime I want. Go me!

I guess that's the thing when you have a big family or even more than one kid. Even if they're raised by the same parents, they can be so vastly different. I consider myself a shot put kind of gal. I'd rather stand in one place and throw the heaviest thing I find and watch where it lands. But as a parent you probably just love watching your little team; the sprinters, the ones jumping over hurdles, THE OVER ACHIEVERS RUNNING 50 MILES!!!! Though I'm sure watching your child run 50 miles is pretty cool. No matter how much I make fun...it is pretty cool.

So congrats bro. You always amaze me. I'm very proud of you for being stupid:)


The following article shows there may actually be some truth to this...


http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2010/03/18/2010-03-18_training_for_marathons_can_cause_heart_damage_in_healthy_people_study.html