It's Not Where You Start It's Where you Finish

It's not where you start, it's where you finish
It's not how you go, it's how you land
A hundred to one shot, you call him a clutz
Can out run the favorite, all he needs is the guts
Your final return will not diminish
And you can be the cream of the crop
It's not where you start, it's where you finish
And you're gonna finish on top


If you start at the top, you're certain to drop
You've got to watch your timing, better begin by climbing
Up, up, up the ladder
If you're going to last, you can't make it fast, man
Nobody starts a winner, give me a slow beginner
Easy does it my friend, conserve your fine endurance
Easy does it my friend, for that's your life insurance
While you are young, take it rung after rung after rung after rung after rung after rung after rung after rung


It's not where you start, it's where you finish,
It's not how you go, it's how you land
A hundred to one shot, you call him a clutz
Can out run the favorite, all he needs is the guts
Your final return will not diminish
And you can be the cream of the crop
It's not where you start, it's where you finish
And you're gonna finish on top!

As I was into a downhill during my 3.9 run today in 14 degree weather this song came to mind. When I searched on You Tube for the song, I was delighted to find one by Barbara Cook. My first Broadway show I ever saw was "She Loves Me" starring Barbara Cook. One of my friends on Facebook talked about calling the Nostalgia Police when we were talking about The Enchanted Village here in Boston. I guess the holidays bring out a sense of nostalgia - especially after having lunch with my brother yesterday. How wonderful to resurrect happy memories and to bring forward the joy of music which was a part of our family culture but boy did I digress or what?

I was mentally ready to embrace the cold today but I was not prepared for what my body would feel like at the beginning of the run. Despite having wonderful cold weather gear, my legs felt like two popsicles. I told myself there is no such thing as a garbage run - just be so incredibly grateful you are out here and able to do this. I knew that I was going to do the route my husband and I did on Sunday minus the little detour which brought us to 4.5 miles. I had no expectation of time. This was a run to acclimate myself to the coldest running day yet for me.

As I chugged up the hill in front of Boston College, the initials DNF came to mind (did not finish) but I heard my dear friend Doug Welch's voice ring in my ears "Strong Work Mary" and I knew I couldn't quit. My mind was wondering how I could cut the run short but I said to myself just clear all of that out of there. I had done 13.2 miles on the bicycle on Tuesday and lower body strength training yesterday and rather than look at why I couldn't do this, or hearing the voices of the docs telling me why I shouldn't run, I focused on feeling a surge of strength from deep within me. I knew this was one of those just finish training runs.

When I got to the top of the hill I felt an incredible sense of victory. As I turned the corner there was a little uphill but I knew the downhill on Commonwealth Avenue was right around the bend. I found a wonderful steady pace and the wind had stopped and the black head warmer was absorbing the sun. I couldn't feel my butt anymore but amazingly enough my feet were warm. My core was very warm and I could feel myself sweating. I had forgotten the delightful paradox of running in winter. It's cold as all get out but the body is sweating.

Part of me wanted to look at my watch and make sure I was doing a sub 15 minute pace. Why? I have no idea but suddenly I felt as though I wanted to add an extra dimension to the run. I went from feeling as though I couldn't do this to wanting to beat the clock. I decided to let go of either extreme and just enjoy the day. I focused on the warmth of the sun, the beauty of the reservoir and felt gratitude surge through every cell in my body. There was another hill to face heading toward home. I remembered that I am going to do a 10K the day after Christmas which is going to have hills. As Nike says, "Just Do It!" and so I did. I was never so happy to see my beautiful street and as I charged toward my house I thought once again, It's not where you start it's where you finish. And I did finish. My husband calculated the distance for me and it was 3.9 miles which I ran in 56:51 - a sub 15 minute mile pace (14:48 to be exact) despite feeling so frozen and sluggish as I ran. My average heart rate was 149 with a peak of 186. Bring on the Jingle Bell Run and the @OperationJack 10K.

Dear God - now that we know I can run in the extreme cold, could we please bring on some more moderate temperatures? Thank you very much.

God bless, be well and live like you were dyin'
With love from my heart to yours,
Mary