Selfishness (or not)

Some of you may (or may not) recall that my New Year’s resolution was to run in the Cherry Blossom 10-miler.

On April 11, I met my goal.  I was no Joan Benoit Samuelson (who, by the way, at age 52 ran this year’s race in 1:00:52), but for a 36-year-old lawyer who sits behind her desk far too much of the day, I felt pretty good about the fact that I ran sub 10-minute miles (a sub-10 — now that’s a phrase you don’t hear at the Olympics too often).

I’ve never had a lot of natural speed — always among the last to finish cross-country races and the 2-miler in track meets — but I’ve grown to love running. And nothing beats coming across the finish line to the open arms of your husband and two little boys.

Training for long races is no easy task. Truthfully, I have no idea how marathoners who work full-time and have kids have the time to do it. Perhaps they just need less sleep than I do.

But setting a goal like this and meeting it is a great feeling. And it provides something that is hard to come by in other aspects of life — you do it for the pure self-satisfaction of doing it. It’s for you and you alone.

Some people might think that’s kind of selfish. Perhaps it is.

I myself think we’re all entitled to a little bit of selfishness. Whether it comes in the form of a weekly massage, golf outings, or just spending some alone time with your coffee and a newspaper on Sunday morning, a little bit of “me time” often centers us, provides us with some perspective, and makes us more well-rounded.

So perhaps that selfishness ends up having a positive affect on our family and friends, which in turn, perhaps makes it not so selfish after all.

In any event, I take my “me time” in the form of early morning runs. Which for the next few months will be in preparation for the Under Armour Half-Marathon in October. Anyone care to join me?