The Boston Marathon medal I hung around my friend’s neck and brought a bit of joy to her life, can no longer be worn by her. As I was traveling in Europe, I missed the obituary stating she had passed away following a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Lana Kind was 60 years old when she died, but her attitude about life and living made her seem years younger. She accepted her fate, but she did not stop fighting it. She lived more than 20 months after being diagnosed and told she would only live 3 or 4 months.

While running the other day, I reflected on the races I had done in May and how I had struggled through some of them and how easy others had been. I guess every day is different and we have to accept those days that do not feel right to us, just as Lana did.

It goes back to a saying Wigwam had on one of their promotional t-shirts back in the ‘90s. It said: “Some run to compete, others because it’s so darn comfortable.”

Life is like that, sometimes we are competitive and we fight and struggle to get everything out of ourselves, to perform at our highest level and others we just cruise along, happy to be doing what we love to do, accepting we cannot always perform at our optimal level.

Acceptance can keep us balanced; knowing there will be days we cannot or should not be pushing our bodies to do what we have trained, allows us to move on and try again another time.

My first race of the month was a half-marathon, one I had won the masters division in 2 years earlier in 1:28. I had no expectations of coming near that time and was hoping for a 1:35. I had taken a couple of hits during the preceding months, a separated shoulder and two cracked ribs, as well as a good whack to the lower leg. These setbacks had slowed me some and my massage therapists were trying to get my body aligned again.

The first mile I knew it was a day to simply cruise and not push. I felt like I was pushing it and the split did not match the effort. At that point I went into the comfort zone and performance be darned.

I chose to wear Wigwam’s compression-type socks (Ironman Endurance Pro) for this unusually hilly course. The support my legs received was exceptional. I normally get tight calves when running so many hills, but this time when I finished my legs felt wonderful.

I guess it kind of contradicts the saying on the t-shirt, but at that point, I felt one could run to compete and be comfortable too! Why not?

I wore the same type of socks at my next two races, both ultras, one a 50K trail and the other a 48-hour track (dirt) race in Surgeres, France and again the following week at a road marathon.

Running the marathon after the 2 ultras was more for my heart than my head, as it was being run for the first time, less than a 20-minute drive from my home, on roads through the Kettle Moraine a glacial area known for its never ending rolling hills and a place I have trained often.

Again, going to the back of the t-shirt, I have to say, I was always darn comfortable. The trail race threw inclement weather in the form of rain and hail, the hilly trails drained well, and so did the socks, keeping my feet dry and comfortable and allowing me to win my age group. Two weeks later, the 301-meter dirt track in southwest France threw something else at us, in the form of dust and dirt. Again, the socks performed much better than I did. Eating dust, driven by winds caused numerous physical problems and the record-breaking performance I had trained for was left in the toilets, medical area and my camper off the track (each competitor is given a camper to use). Diarrhea, vomiting and nosebleeds slowed me down, but I continued to come back to the track and do what I could do.

I had witnessed many comebacks the week before as the team leader for the 24-hour run national team at the IAU 24h World Championships in Brive, France. At that time it was my team who struggled and fought back, earning a bronze medal. A week later, I ended up with about 130 miles, nearly 100 miles less than I expected, but remarkably, my legs felt good enough to enter the marathon the following week and I finished what I started.

The Great Midwest Marathon lived up to its booking as a hilly and challenging course. One thing I had going for me that others may not have had, was the week before I had run 3 days in temperatures ranging from the mid 80s to over 90. Temperatures soared during the marathon to 92 and the times of the finishers fell at an equal rate.