Thursday, June 22

Yogi-isms

My dear friend and running buddy, Dave Minnigan, is always a mine of wisdom. That's us in the photo--just after the RC-Moon Pie 10-Miler. See, doesn't he look wise? A couple of weeks ago he reminded me of the old Yogi Berra wisecrack that "Endurance is eighty percent half mental." It has proven to be a great motivation for me as I try to whip my sorry carcass back into shape. It got me across the finish line in Bell Buckle. Last night, it got me through three miles on the hotel treadmill. And this morning it pushed me out the door to hit the streets of Hotlanta for three more. Let me be the first to confess, I did not really want to run at all yesterday or today--and I wasn't real sure I could indeed drag myself across the finish line even with the promise of Moon Pies as a reward. But, ultimately I did get out there and give it my best shot--knowing that my reticence was really only twenty percent half mental.

Boy, oh boy, am I glad I got that cleared up.

Amazingly, while I out this morning in the Olympic Centennial Park, I met up with three runners who asserted that they regularly read my blogs. They were as hot and sweaty as I was at the time--and they blamed me for it! What a great mess to have gotten good folks into!

It reminds me of another great Yogi-ism: "You gotta be careful about motivation; it makes you do the darndest things."