Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Pig Rock revisited

Many nights I sleep restlessly and wake up often, but last night I slept like a rock. I don't think I moved until my alarm went off at 3:50; you can't imagine how much I didn't want to get up and go running.

Once I was outside, it was so warm that I started sweating immediately. It must have been 60 degrees, and soon my profuse sweating forced me to take my shirt off. I approached Pig Rock (PR) from the same angle as yesterday and, still lacking inspiration, I glanced toward it hopefully. Yesterday's dolphin was gone and I was suddenly glad that I hadn't gone to the church and told them that a dolphin sent me, because today there was a large eagles head coming out of the ground.
"What the hell?" I said.
"What am I now Marathon Man?" the rock wanted to know.

I was being taunted by a rock, a gifted rock no doubt, but a rock nonetheless.

"What meaning do I offer you this morning?" it poked fun at me. "Where's your shirt?" it continued.

I lowered my eyes to the road and sped up, deciding to change my easy run into a lung-searing
anaerobic threshold run. I checked my watch at the turnaround, 22 minutes. As I headed back, I knew I still had PR to contend with so I was a little tense. As I neared the wicked rock I averted my eyes and hummed Hail to the Chief.

Soon I was past it, and was able to relax a bit. A mile later as I made the turn up my road, from the back of my mind I heard,
"What am I now?...
"Marathon Man, what am I now?"

It struck me as odd that a talking rock doesn't have to be in the immediate vicinity to taunt you.

I neared the house and checked my watch, 18 minutes 40 seconds to get home. I trimmed three minutes 20 seconds off the last three miles of the run, and I had not suffered too greatly.
It turns out that PR had come through with some needed inspiration yet again.

All hail Pig Rock!

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