This might seem like a strange column from a marathon runner. For years I never thought about what non-runners ever thought about people who run marathons. In college, I ran the 440 yard distance and hurdles and sprints. I thought that anybody that ran around the track more than twice was a little strange. We ran sprints, stretched, did exercises, and ran more sprints. The two milers on the track team just ran around that track for the entire practice. It seemed that their personality was a little distant and usually very calm. I figured that they got that way from having to think about something while they ran around that track.
I was in Lockhart this week for a few errands. When I drove back to San Marcos on that road from Lockhart to Martindale it occurred to me that I used to run that road training for marathons. I was driving around 60 miles per hour but it seemed like that flat stretch took a long time to drive. I never thought how far it was while I was running because there was usually a group of four or five runners.
We would stop in Martindale at the gas station for water and then head on to San Marcos. After getting a look at that long, desolate strip of highway it made me understand what a normal person must think seeing a group of people out in the middle of nowhere running down the road.
