envisioning

During the first days, or even weeks, I went by an interim working model: if I start by walking one mile a day, and each week I increase my daily task by one mile, I will reach 26 miles in 26 weeks. That meant mid-September. More than six months ahead.

Here my mind bifurcated and the two strands ended up running against each other. On the one hand, six months seemed too long. Not that I wanted to run the marathon right away. I wasn’t in shape to do so (this, I know, is a glaring example of stating the obvious). But I could already envision myself, lean and taut, running the marathon, crossing the finish line. It was an image much more substantial than the interim 26 weeks the unfolding of which I could not fathom.