Friday, November 6, 2009

1,000 Miles

At 6:45 this morning, I passed the 1,000 mile mark for 2009 running. 

Logically, 1,000 is just another number.  However, psychologically, it feels like a major event.  I wonder why our minds make distinctions like this.  A numerical boundary is just an arbitrary mental construct; the values immediately on each side of the line are virtually the same.  Somehow, we see 1,000 as significant compared to 999, but 1,001 as insignificant compared to 1,000.

I won't further wonder why; I guess it's just human nature.  Yesterday, I noticed that my total was 996.2 miles.  I ran 3.5 miles on each of the previous two days.  Mentally, I couldn't accept the concept of finishing today's run at 999.7 miles, so I added an extra half-mile to my route.

It was a pleasant run, easy pace, 4.0 miles, 43:06, 10.77 minutes/mile. The weather continues to be perfect, 52° as I started out.

5 comments:

A Plain Observer said...

that's what makes us different from the rest - or maybe that is how everyone who has a passion is, mine is running so I can only speak about it. The littlist things become a big thing for us. Congrats on your first thou

kara said...

That's a lot of miles! Remember to take care of your feet - Give them a nice massage!

Vern said...

Myriam,
It seems most runners, myself included, tend to pay attention to the statistics. The milestones are meaningful to us because we care so much about the activity of running itself. Sometimes I have to force myself to just forget about the stats so I can just focus on the joy of running!

Kara,
That's good advice! There's nothing more important to a runner than his or her feet. My favorite treatment is a bucket of ice after a long-distance run. It feels great when my feet are sore!

Brian said...

Very nice blog, and congrats on the thousand.

Vern said...

Brian,

I'm always glad to run into people who share two of my greatest passions, running and the environment! I also enjoyed your blog and the link to Anton's blog.

Thanks for visiting Running Green!