A True Test

It's not often, if ever, that you get a chance to re-enact the type of body fatigue that you will experience in a marathon. But today I think I got as close as one can get to challenging that experience without actually running 26 miles.

Today I worked my first All American Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) game behind homeplate. I am in my fifth year of umpiring in this, one of the top three premier collegiate tournaments in the country. However, prior to today I had always just worked the bases.

I ended up working a memorable game between Brooklyn and Buffalo, won 10-7 by Brooklyn. But it was what came after the game that meant the most today. At least as far as my running is concerned.

After working a nine inning, roughly 3 hour, 14 minute contest I headed home to a waiting 5-mile run. I was not looking forward to it, but my training is important to me so skipping today was not an option. I had already put it off from this morning so I could save my legs for the game. What I did inadvertently was tire myself out. As I headed out into the second mile my legs began to get weary. The type of leg weariness you get around miles 18-20. It was at that point I decided to push myself through the tired legs and take advantage of the "opportunity" that had presented itself. I mean, how often do you get to mimic marathon conditions? No, there were no crowds. I was not on a timing chip and there was nothing on the line other than getting back home to my leftover mushroom swiss burger (one of my specialties on the grill...this one was leftover from last night). Still, I felt it was important to shoot for a BQ time on weary legs. Lo and behold I crossed my imaginary finish line in 37:10, good for a 15 second cushion off a BQ to me (37:25).

A true test that I passed today with flying colors. Now to the Motrin...