42

In the novel,  The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, a group hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings demand to learn the "answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything" from a supercomputer they call "Deep Thought." After 7 and 1/2 million years, "Deep Thought" comes up with the answer: 42. Of course these super intelligent beings are confused, and want to know the meaning of the number 42.  "Deep Thought" explains that the meaning is an entirely different question, a question that it doesn't even know; however it can help design a even more powerful computer that can figure out the question. To make a long story short, after 8 million years, the process to create this new computer is thwarted (and the super computer destroyed) by some psychiatrists, who feared for the loss of their careers when the ultimate question became known. They didn't want to start over again searching for the question so the  best question they  could come up with is "How many roads must a man walk down?' from Bob Dylan's song "Blowin' in the Wind."

What does this story have to do with my marathon training?

42. 2 kilometers is the distance of a full marathon, and the distance is as seemingly arbitrary as Douglas Adams choosing 42 as the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. The original marathon, as legend has it, is the story of Pheidippides who was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated.  He supposedly ran the entire distance without stopping and died after announcing that they had won. The distance he ran was actually only 40.8 kilometers (and he DIED after running it). Still, 40.8 kilometers is a very long way, so the Athenians honoured him with a run, (because why wouldn't people want do something that caused a man to die in exhaustion?) But, why then is a marathon 42.2 kilometers?  Well, apparently the Brits love their monarchs so much that in the 1908 Olympics in London, they lengthened the course so that the runners could run in front of the royal family's viewing box. And, for some reason, nobody thought to go back to the original distance.  Why go 40 km, when you can go 42?  Runners are so dedicated.

So this leads me to the answer to the question, "How many roads must a woman walk (run) down?"
The answer is 42. 42.2 kilometers of  roads.

AND 42.3 kilometers is the distance I ran this week!

See how it all ties together? I wasn't just rambling about books and history for no reason!

Yesterday, when I was running, I was feeling tired.  And, I gave myself all sorts of excuses, like I got to bed late, I have put in quite a few kilometers this week, I didn't eat oatmeal in the morning, etc. etc. That is when I realized.  What I ran this last week, is what I am going to be running in on ONE day! Yikes! What did I sign up for?

Here is how my week broke down:

Sunday; LSD: 19.66 kilometers. ( I was actually only supposed to be running 14 k, according to the marathon training schedule, but since I am running a half marathon on February 14, I ran longer)
Tuesday: Tempo; 6.67 km at 5.55 min/kim
Wednesday Tempo; 10.27 at 6.01 min/km
Friday Steady:5.67 km at 6.53 min/km

Total km: 42.3 km (42.27)

The legend of  Pheidippides and the battle of Marathon inspired so many to run the same distance just to honour his effort.  He gave his life, just to give a message. Now, others test themselves in this way all the time. People find answers in running a marathon. They find fulfillment, they find challenge, and they find purpose.  People really do find answers in 42.