The Greatest

“The final lap. Sweat lines Haile Gebrselassie’s face, his forehead shines under the strain. At the top of the backstretch the Kenyan Paul Tergat leads. His elegant stride extends into the night; the ground rushes beneath him in a torrent.

Over each passing kilometer, from the 1st through to the 10th, time has moved fast and had moved slow. The pace fluctuated like a nervous day on Wall Street – 62 seconds for one lap, 72 for another, 56 for another still. Such is the effect of earnest confrontation – and at an Olympic Games in particular, where unknown possibilities are so often reconfigured into a new order.”

The above it part of the prologue in The Greatest: The Haile Gebrselassie Story, by Jim Denison. With departure to London looming, last week I ordered three books to a) inspire me and b) keep me entertained on the plane ride and in the days preceding the race. I’ve read the first 19 pages of this story and I haven’t been disappointed, the hard part is going to be not completing the book prior to leaving.

This afternoon, RC led me through yet even more new trails in Victoria; this city is just littered with paths, alleyways and trails I wish I’d only known about years earlier. After yesterday, I was nervous going into the run, fully expecting my legs to revolt with every tentative footstep. But, perhaps because of the mixture of soft ground, good company and humid weather (despite the recent rainfall) the pins held up their end of the bargain. Tomorrow is my last long run, 2 hours, and then…

Happy Easter!

Training: an energizing 1:00:19, pace: sociable