TheBanyanTree: it's just numbers

[Tom Smith]

I remember reading Roger Bannister's autobiography as a
teenager.  He was one of my heroes.  As a high school sophomore,
I couldn't run a quarter mile under a minute, so I was in
serious awe of anyone who could run four of those quarter miles
back to back in less than a minute each.

Tried out but failed to make the cut for the baseball team, so 
I went for and made the cross-country team. The only fatigue
I've ever experienced that exceeded that first two mile race up
and down hills was swimming half that distance. 

Made friends for life on that cross-country team.  Earned a
varsity letter.  The very best part wasn't all the workouts,
but the feeling at the end of the season, after a week's rest,
when running felt better that walking, pure pleasure.  There
was little sensation of my feet even touching the ground.  

I was almost always on a team, because not long after the
cross-country season ended, the track season began.  My best
event was the half-mile, and in my senior year I won a regional
race at 1:56.3 -two back to back quarter miles in less than a
minute each.  It felt good to improve.  It felt good to have
work rewarded.  The best mile I would ever run was waay behind
Roger's -by 21 seconds on a college indoor track.

The truest deepest feeling of exhilaration I ever experienced
was in a college intramural half-mile race.  I was in a pack
about a half lap from the finish, when I was able to accelerate
away, putting ever-greater distance between myself and the next
closest.  Didn't finish 31 lengths ahead like Secretariat at
Belmont but I felt a kindred spirit with that horse in that
race.  NASCAR drivers don't have a clue about the ultimate joy
in racing.

Since those glory days, I've had to back off some, giving up
tennis and running any distances behond a half a block.  That
half a block feels good though.  It's a fact of life that
bodies wear out, that wear and tear will take a toll, and I'd
rather walk a long time than run a short time.  The good news
is that there's more to notice.