Before Committing,Consider This

I spoke with a runner who was very disappointed by his time at a recent marathon,he had expected to race much better than he did that day.The weather was ideal,he ran the first 13 miles as planned but as he said,"things just sort of slowly came apart." This runner at one time had,had hopes of qualifying for the Olympic marathon trials." I felt bad for him when he said, "I don't know what's going on with my running." Hearing this I couldn't help but think of something Cerutty had written that applies to runners like him and others who express a desire for success in this great sport. Cerutty wrote: "It therefore behooves every would-be successful person to sit down quietly and examine,not only themselves as to ability,but as to their ambition,whether it is a new enthusiasm,an idea entertained as an escape from studies,work or some duty,and, the reasonable probability of success. In a word,do they really want it!" I wonder how many runners who say they want to put in the time and effort to race well ever consider the things Cerutty writes above? This also goes for my friend and runners like him,there comes a moment when some should re-examine whether they still really want what they say, or are they just going through the motions?