Wildcard Wednesday!
Welcome to the first "Wildcard Wednesday" Today's topic...
Just exactly how long is a mile?
“In contemporary English, a mile most commonly refers to the statute mile of 5,280 feet (1,760 yards, or 1,609.344 meters), the survey mile of 5,280 survey feet (1609.3472 m) (Wikipedia 4/13/11)
5,280 steps per mile. How many steps in my half marathon…69,168. Amazing. Each one of those steps helps bring you closer to a goal. The finish line.
But how long is a mile? It takes me about 20 minutes to walk a mile right now. I would love to get that closer to 15 minutes. I know that running, sadly, it would be the same! At least it was in high school gym class. Granted that was a long time ago, but there has been no improvement in that area. So 20 minutes, eh? That’s 4 hours to walk 13.1 miles. 4 hours of my life to push myself, to go beyond anything I have ever done.
So…I am a history nut, and have recently gotten into Greek mythology. Thanks to an obsession with Battlestar Galactica. Yes, I am a total and complete nerd. I was curious as to the history of what a marathon is… and why such a specific distance, 26 miles and 385 yards.
The name Marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon, in which he had just fought, which took place in late summer, 490 BC. It is said that he ran the entire distance to the assembly without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming “We have won.” before collapsing and dying.
Ok, so I am pretty sure that I won’t collapse and die after my marathon (I might feel that way…). But I won’t have just fought in a battle either. And thanks to my coaches I know to hydrate and fuel to avoid the aforementioned death or collapsing J. Although, it makes me think of the reason that I am doing this. For those who can’t. Each one of these miles will be a victory for me, and for my teammates. Each mile means that I have pushed myself for something bigger than me. I will be proud of each and every single mile that I log in my training and on race day. No matter what happens.
Have a suggestion for a "Wildcard Wednesday" topic? Leave a comment and I will add it to the hat!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
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Labels:
Miles,
pace,
Wildcard Wednesday
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