Feelin' Good Again
by Robert Earl Keen
It's such an evocative, positive song. Have you ever had one of those times when, for just a brief moment, all is right in the world? That is how this song makes me feel.
I'm not a very good runner. As a matter of fact, I'm a pretty poor runner. I find the marathon distance to be quite a challenge, but I persevere. I was running a marathon in 2008, and, as usual, at about mile 21 or so I started to fade pretty rapidly. At that point in a marathon, the race becomes more of a gut check than anything else. At least for me it does - It's been said that the marathon consists of two halves, the first 20 miles, followed by the last 6.2 miles.
ANYHOW...
...there I am, Mile 21, supremely aware of my aching feet and my profound lack of natural talent. I whipped out my handy iPod, reserved for just this situation. Well, Feelin' Good Again was on, and somehow I had my iPod set on repeat, so I listened to this song continuously from mile 21 through mile 24. At my pace, that had to have been between 3,000 and 4,000 times. But it took me away. Took my mind off of my soreness and I kind of floated through those toughest of all marathon miles. And that's what needs to happen, beyond all the training. For a runner like myself, the last half of a marathon is as much mind over matter as anything else.
So, thanks, Robert Earl Keen for helping me finish my 7th marathon.
You guys, listen to this song. It is great. Here's the link again, so you can listen to it again
I don't think that a person who has completed 7 marathons is allowed to describe himself as a poor runner.
ReplyDeleteThe last marathon I ran was in 2007. I didn't train for it (long story), but I had a similar situation. It's pretty cool how music can move us to do amazing things
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