"Rich, isn't the Pittsburgh Half
Marathon coming up soon?"
asked Rabbi Rosenblum.
"Oy, your right. First Sunday
in May."
"That's about six weeks away.
Have you been training?
This is a very symbolic
race for you."
" I can't believe it slipped my
mind. I've been so busy with
other things."
"Well, I guess someone has to
come in last," he said.
We both laughed.
"That's one reason you're such a
great leader, Rabbi Rosenblum.
You know how to say
just the right things to motivate
people."
I better get myself motivated and
schedule some long runs.
I watched some "Rocky" movies
on YouTube, and set some times
in my calendar to do some long
runs. I have done a lot of these
events. I'm counting on my
experience . I don't have a lot
of time to train.
The longest run I got in was
eight miles, three weeks prior
to the race.
That's it. I always do my longest
run three weeks prior to the race,
and then taper down. The week before
I do as little exercise as possible.
I still have to do some exercise because
of my profession.
Race packet pickup on Friday. I'm always
in a hurry to get back to work. Next year
I'm going to clear my schedule so I can
look around at all the cool booths.
Race Day
Buzz, it's four thirty in the morning. I'm glad
I slept on the couch with all my running gear
on. Now, I just have to go through my
checklist and I'll be out the door by five
thirty a.m. I hope I miss the traffic jam.
There's over thirty thousand runners.
I hope I can find a parking space.
Good, I found a parking space.
Now I have to figure out how to get
to my starting corral. There are about
five thousand runners in each corral.
Race is starting soon. I see her singing the
National Anthem on that huge big screen
T.V. Everything looks surrealistic. Pastel
colors of thousands of runners.
Most of the runners started cheering
and jumping. I always cry at the start.
This time is no different. There is something
about thousands of people with positive
energy and enthusiasm that gets to me.
I feel like I'm on vacation,running
through quaint neighborhoods and
across bridges. I love looking at
the magnificent contrast of water,
sky and a collage of architecture.
I'm nearing the finish line.
Nurses are sitting on the wall
of the Rehab Center I was in.
I pointed up, and yelled, "I was in there a
year ago, I had a stroke!"
The nurses stood up on the wall
and started clapping.
I did it! I crossed the finish line
one year post stroke.
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