Maybe

I happened across a local newspaper article about a runner friend of mine and it got me to thinking about a couple of things. Will I ever get back to training and running like I did earlier in my life? Can I alter my biomechanics to run more efficiently? Somewhere along the way I lost my desire to train hard and race hard. I’ve been putting in just the minimums for both training and racing. I’ve been able to rationalize why I shouldn’t run hard, whether it be cutting the grass or not risking an injury. I've talked myself into stopping for breaks during training runs, even when I knew I could have slowed down or even maintain the pace. I'm not entering many races, which is a convenient way to excuse the bad training or lack of training. Some of the things that I might miss:
The lung burning sensation or running the first mile too fast and never recovering in a 10k race.
Having an answer when asked, “what race are you training for?”
Having a goal finish time and knowing what it will take to accomplish it.
Going for a top age group finish and seeing what other competitors were racing that day.

Hopefully I’ll be able to regain that spark or whatever it was years ago that kept me coming back for more.

Here’s a link to the story about Doug:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007708170396