4 Miles

Four Miles is such a short distance, usually, for a runner. In the middle of the year, or at any other time, I would have been embarrassed that I ran four miles, only. Maybe if it was in a registered race, or as part of a tempo run or the sum of interval training, I could see myself entering the number 4 underneath the column “Miles Ran” in my running log. But this was no ordinary run, my dear friends. This was my first run in 2008, my first run since I broke my first clavicle, my first run on the long road to recovery. I never imagined after I made my New Year’s Resolution to run 333 miles more than last year, it’d take me 45 days to log my first four. And even though the effort was my slowest in more than a year (7:45 min/mile pace) and I was panting louder and faster than the horses pulling the carriages next to me at Central Park, I’ve never felt happier to be running so slowly. I can’t wait for my next four miles.