O.K., RR wants to know how i did a marathon and at a fairly good time and my lungs didn't explode.

It's a little tough to explain. i trained just like everyone else did. i just smoked. Totally dumb, i get that... and really, i kept waiting for some epiphany moment of lapsing into a coughing fit and throwing the smokes away, forever, well before my 20 mile run.

It never happened. As a matter of fact, i was so nervous before the marathon, i had a smoke at the hotel before heading downtown.

i'm as surprised as anyone about my time, but... i am a little bit taller than most runners, my strides are longer, i don't think i work as hard as say someone 5'6" to run the same distance. Sorta like NBA centers, a person can't train to be 7 foot tall.

i do recognize the problem and i am trying. Thanks for the support.

So, anyway, i hate traffic and rude drivers. We all do as we, runners, have to occasionally dodge cars, trucks, SUVs, etc...

i, like most i imagine, run on the sidewalk opposite of traffic so i can see traffic as it heads toward me whenever possible. So once again, last nite, here i am in the middle of a lit parking lot entrance to the local high school, and a stupid woman in a minivan slams on the gas to turn into the parking lot quicker than i can cross. i am partially through entrance before she starts her turn. Unbelievable....and frightening...

So as momentum carries me into the side of her minivan. i have two choices:

1, try to stop, unsuccessfully and run into the side of her van, face first, or;

2, throw my foot up into the side of her van and try to push back to avoid getting run-over.

Guess what i choose?

And yeah, i hate to admit, it felt a little satisfying to not only defend myself from physical harm, but to see the jump in the woman, and the van for that matter, as i kicked against the van to throw myself back.

it was a little louder than expected...

it left a little bit bigger dent than expected...

Cause i'm a little bit taller and heavier than a lot of runners, and i seem to go at a good clip...so i am reminded of two laws i learned from high school, oh the irony, physics class

Force= Mass X Acceleration

For every action there is an opposite but equal reaction.

As i continued along the sidewalk, i wondered how she would explain this to her husband. i just kept running. She didn't stop for me and i didn't feel like stopping for her.

"i hit a runner in the crosswalk, in a well lit area"

"So, you hit a pedestrian?"

"yeah"

"and you think we're going to file an insurance claim?"

Thanks for reading

RR....hope the scope goes/went well.