Closing In

"Only those who will risk going too far

can possibly find out how far they can go."

--T.S. ELIOT

I'm currently sitting around in the airport in Cleveland, killing time during a lenghty morning layover in my quest to reach Baltimore. And, I'm a little peeved, because the unfortunate travel/work schedule I have today might erase any window for me to squeeze in my planned three-mile easy run.

If I miss out on running today, though, it won't be the end of the world. After all, I'm tapering now, gradually decreasing my workout pace in the days before the Oct. 12 marathon. There is just a little more than two weeks left until the big day, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my playoff work schedule can help me out.

See, I'm down to follow the Mighty Tampa Bay Rays in the first round, and they could potentially meet up with the Chicago White Sox in Division Series. The South Siders blew it this week by being swept by the Twins, who now reside in first place in the Central. I'm hoping the Sox can take the division, so I can travel between St. Pete and Chi in the week before the race.

We'll see if the teams play along with my hopes. In a perfect world, it's be Rays-Sox in round one, with the series ending in Chicago, so I can hang out until the marathon. At least it looks like I won't be needing to fly between Tampa and L.A. this coming week. The last thing I need is jetlag disrupting my sleep as I prep for 26.2.

Anyway, things have been going well on the running front of late. This past Sunday, I woke at 5 a.m. and did 22 miles before heading to work. Besides a nasty blister, and some cramping, I did all right, averaging 8:20 per mile -- not including the few stops I took. It didn't go as well as my previous 18-miler, but it was the longest run of my life and it wasn't too far off my goal pace.

This week, during an 8-mile speed workout, I ran one mile in 5:56 -- topping my previous best mile of the last year by 1 second. That made me laugh some when I was scrolling through my splits on my handy-dandy Garmin. My other two fast miles during that run were 6:01 and 6:10. It's getting to the point where running a 7:30-45 mile seems easy.

With that in mind, I'm hoping that the adrenaline that comes with being in a race with 45,000 people in a big city with large crowds cheering us all on will help me hold the 8 minute pace I'd like to achieve in Chicago. I guess with this being my first marathon and all, I should just be happy when I cross the finish line -- no matter my time.

But, I know myself, and I've always had an ultra competitive side. It's rare that I walk away from something thinking I couldn't have done better. I remember back in my baseball days, I'd come home and my mom or dad would be proud of the two or three hits I got, and I'd be stewing over the one out I made.

That's how I've always been, but I'm trying to coach myself mentally to, not necessarily be satisfied by how I do, but to take pride in the achievement I'm about to complete. It's taken a lot of work to get to this point, there have been a few injuries, I've had to exercise will power more than any other time in my life, and it's all about to pay off.

I have the feeling, though, that when I cross the finish line, my family and friends will all be excited, and I'll see my time and immediately want to best it. I guess there are worse hobbies than running marathons. And, I know after finishing my first, I'll probably want to take on another soon with the newfound knowledge I have in hand.

Only a few more miles to go...