"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable."
-- Sir Roger Bannister, first runner to run a sub-4 minute mile
9/11 almost cancelled the 2001 Chicago Marathon, run on 10/7/2001. Luckily for me and my inspirational drill sergeant Brent, with his hopes of qualifying for Boston, Chicago pressed on. Brent trained in Rochester; I in Dallas. Honestly, I was always thinking one and done. However, 26 seconds messed with my mind. That is, I finished 26 seconds over 4 hours. Beating the 4-hour mark became the proverbial thorn in my side. San Diego in 2003 got me under that 4-hour mark. I should have stopped there. But why not your local, Dallas Marathon, which almost literally starts in your backyard? Turns out marathon number three was a big mistake.
"Whether you believe you can or believe you can't, you're probably right."
-- Henry Ford
