(true) spirit of the marathon

I double checked the time for the movie, Spirit of the Marathon, before leaving for work, attempting to time out the day while accepting the possibility that I would miss it due to my evening schedule of clients. Ethically I can't manipulate that, or cancel a client, so I was prepared to just think....of the experience. As the late afternoon clients began to come in, I got a call from my last appointment of the day, canceling.
I realized at that moment, that the gods were with me. I might make it after all.

I have found my clinical groove the same way I search for my steady gait out on the road. I was able to communicate, negotiate, and navigate my way through the amazing amalgam and constellation of issues, feelings, ideas, presentations, protestations, and a thousand instances of interactions which call for my intervention. It is amazing, when I hit the rhythm, how it flows. And so it goes. My 4 o'clock, my five, and soon I'm in my last hour and timing minutes, knowing if I am out the door on time, I will make it, I'll see it, I'll be there for the whole thing.

I put together every loose thread, then down 95 I headed. At the theatre, the oldsters wanted to kibbitz and complain, but I was on a mission. I found the theatre, found the seat, took a final pee, settled in, and here we go: it was the 2005 Chicago marathon, and Deena Kastor's story of victory was displayed, the #2 men's finisher from Kenya and a handful of wanna be's like me, first timers and old timers, and it was MAGIC. As expected, I cried often. I related to everything. I felt all their emotions and realized I will SOON have my own experience of the marathon. Everyone runs their own race. And yet everyone runs together. Every effort is acceptable and honorable. The best cross the same line as the worst. Just finishing is a major victory in itself.

The paperwork is laid out, a shopping list for Whole Foods written; the chiropractor and organizing is tomorrow, while Saturday is the final massage and Expo/packet pick-up. There are other Big Mysteries afoot, and I realize now the alignment of energy illustrates the preparation, and the power of great events. And in a person's life there are few landmarks; benchmarks truly, wholly owned. And this is one of mine. This is one of mine.

Everything changes when you finish a marathon.
-from Spirit of the marathon