Run through the pain. Extend your limits. Establish a new personal best. Recover from this one and map out your training for the next. A few weeks ago I was talking with an ill, elderly friend, and he asked about my kids. I told him one was preparing for a half-marathon on Memorial Day Sunday. His eyes lit up, his voice deepened below a thin tenor, and his cheeks reddened as he asked if I’d heard about his first Boston Marathon, 72 years ago.

Delighted that I had not, he then spun a “It happened yesterday” account of his running the Boston as a callow 17 year old in brand new, leather running shoes, a gift from his father. He’d saved those shoes just for the race itself, not wanting to mar them prior to the big event. As you might have guessed, brand new leathers do not make effective footwear for the tortures of a marathon, and his feet began bleeding by the mid-point. He finished the race, running through pain and bleeding through his shoes which had to be cut from his feet at the finish line.

My daughter, unable to sufficiently train due to a demanding spring work schedule, and with a tender knee, also finished her race this past weekend. No blood. No shoe cutting, but in some pain and grateful for finishing in “acceptable” time.

Both runners ran through pain, extended their limits, and spoke immediately about “the next one.” They shared a kindred spirit of determination, effort, and endurance. They would have liked each other, perhaps enjoyed a slow beer together had they run the same event. My friend died just a few days after telling me about his Boston. My daughter is plotting her next training regimen. Indomitable spirits, both.