That's quite the number.
At the end of every April I start wearing a new pair of running shoes, changing out my old ones because, well, that's what you're supposed to do every 500 or so miles. That, of course, led me to start thinking about something, which led me to do some math in my head, and as we all know, whenever math and I get involved, dangerous things can happen.
Here's what I figured out. I started running when I moved back to Marquette in 1988. That’s been (gasp) over 35 years. If I run on average 10 miles a week, an average which takes into account that I used to dial back in the winter when I skied, that takes into account those times when (ahem) I injure myself and can't run, but doesn't take into account the fact that I now run around a soccer pitch for an hour or two each week, that’s 520 miles a year. And if I’ve been doing that for over 35 years now, you know what that means? It means that I have run, in my life, just over 18, 720 miles. I have run over three quarters of the way around the Earth.
My feet hurt just typing that!
As far as I can tell, 18,720 miles from Marquette is somewhere smack dab in the middle of Middle east, at least if you left Marquette and headed west. That’s a long way. Or you can put it in space nerd terms, if you want. That’s like running 1/14th of the way from the Earth to the Moon.
18, 700 miles in 35+ years. Wow. And you know what’s scary? There are SO many people who’ve run further than I in the last three decades and change that it boggles the mind. I mean, I’m just a recreational runner. There are people out there who’ll do 500 miles in a month, and don’t even break a sweat. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do that.
I don’t remember most of the 18,700 miles I’ve run, mostly because my mind is occupied with thoughts other than running while I’m out running, but there are several jaunts that definitely stick in my head, and probably will forever. One would be the three miles I ran by myself, early one Saturday morning through the winding and narrow streets of Bayeux, France. Another would be a sticky & sweaty few miles in Washington DC. And the third would be a VERY sticky & sweaty 8 miles in Marquette a decade or so ago, one of my long, meandering Saturday runs when it was 80 degrees at 8 in the morning.
Trust me--you DON’T forget runs like that, even after racking up 18,000+ miles.
I supposed I should set a goal of running at least 25,000 miles in my life, so I can say (at least in jest) that I’ve run around the world. So far, it’s taken me 35+ years to get three quarters of the way there. I still plan on running as long as I can, so the goal is possible. We’ll just have to see if my feet, my knees, and the new shoes I’m using hold out.
Wish me luck!!
No comments:
Post a Comment