history

strange as it may seem to many - I still identify myself as the girl picked last more than I do as an athlete or anything else.

I did terribly in all those presidential physical fitness tests, and they left a bit of a scar on my psyche (they were all about sprint speeds and things I wasn't built for...)  

...and I am terribly uncoordinated - I stay away from throwing and catching for my own safety....thus, not a hot commodity for the schoolyard games.  I have a strong memory of myself and a fat black girl named Karen being the last two to choose from and still feel some pain.

it took distance running for me to find the athlete within.  I remember the day - I was running a trail in baltimore and decided that it was so nice out, I'd run 10-12 miles instead of my planned 6.  It suddenly hit me that this was nearly a half marathon distance which I was doing for fun.  

I think the Orioles were in the midst of a playoff run in baseball, and all anyone in Baltimore talked about...and the thought came into my head...."I could probably outrun every member of that professional baseball team right now"  - overall distance and time....and I suddenly realized that I am an athlete. 

I'll never win a marathon, but I can start the same race and run the same course as the elite athletes.  

I can finish as many as I want.  

I can have as much fun as I want.  

and I will.

revenge of the girl picked last.