Six Miles

I went to Gainesville to do a 6-mile run around the University as part of my training for the Honolulu Marathon. It’s the end of Week 3 of training, and I’m really pushing hard to prepare for the race this time. I felt sluggish and slow, feeling the effects of weight gain and aging. There were students milling around, getting ready for the start of the semester. They all looked so young, which made me feel old. Has it really been that long since I first started to attend college? Yes, it has… Twenty-two years, in fact.

Running was much easier back then, yet I recall being primarily sedentary during my first college years. Moving out of town and unfamiliarity with the new city kept me confined to my dorm room and secluded in the University gym, where I would sometimes retreat to running on the treadmill.