Albert Einstein once said "The true measure of a man is the degree to which he has managed to subjugate his ego." I know this, because I was there. It was a Sunday afternoon in 1903 in a Swiss Patent Office. True story. Back to the task at hand; after learning the definition of 'manage' I was able to put his quote into context, and I came to a stark realization. That realization: I am confident I wouldn't register on Albert Einstein's Ego Subjugation Scale, aptly named The ASS. It was not until 1912 that the letter E became the most used letter in the English language. Go figure.
Last year during training for the Miami Marathon, I suffered a psoas injury. The psoas is a muscle that controls flexion in the hip, a muscle fairly integral to putting one foot in front of the other in an expedited fashion. By the time the marathon rolled around my persuasive mind had convinced my meek & feeble body that I was healed and completely ready for the impending 26.2. Around mile 11 my body had a few choice words for my mind. Precisely at that moment, Dr. Ego reared his ugly head, with his lavish pinstriped blazer, white-knuckling a rocks-glass of scotch, puffing on a Cuban, looking mighty dapper. Standing a foreboding 5ft 8in tall, he bellowed "Come on, you're fine, nothing a quick little stretch won't fix. Get movin', Sally." (Yes, that sorry looking character playing my ego is a doctor.)
Mesmerized by Dr. Ego's ability to make even an insult sound inspirational, I continued on. I will be no man' Sally today. Passing the exit to the finish line of the half, I heard that distinct evil laughter; Dr. Ego: 1, Eric: 0. Luckily, the pain took its time building, I only had to run the last 6 miles with a horrifyingly painful limp. I know, I know, you're probably saying to yourself, "Not you Eric, you exist clearly in an ego free zone". Well my friends, unbeknownst to you, I go toe to toe with Dr. Ego every day and he has a nasty right cross.
I sit here writing this, again, awe-inspiring post to mitigate my risk of a repeat performance. Although I am healthy this year, the marathon represents a likely over-training scenario for me. As I wrote that last sentence I can here that evil little voice in the bowels of my existence whispering "You'll be fine, you're a machine, a marathon won't have an adverse affect on you. Just don't taper as much and only take two days off afterward, no fitness lost and then you don't have to do 1/2 of what you said you would do. Remember Denzel Washington in John Q? Do you remember what he told his son who was on the verge of death? 'Always do what you say you are going to do,' have some damn integrity!!"
As I mentioned, I am writing this post to evoke a high degree of anonymous accountability for myself. There comes a point in every man's life when he reaches a fork in the road. My fork; a left turn to 13.1 or a right (it's actually straight, but for the sake of this analogy, we'll go with right) to 26.2 and all of its consequences. That sharp left turn leading to the finish under the 13.1 sign represents an ego-free zone for me. I think Zoolander said it best when he said 'I can't turn left'.
I don't think this post could have been any more convoluted, but I'll see what I can do next week.
Keep on keepin' on.
No comments:
Post a Comment