when I was younger

Okay, so when I was younger I used to say I would be a good marathon runner. By which I didn’t mean straining my muscles on the open road. I was speaking strictly metaphorically. I meant I had tenacity. I meant I am not a sprinter, that is I am not quick, not a fast thinker, not endowed with presence of mind. As a witty soul once said, my presence of mind kicks in a day or so after the fact. Perseverance is my strong point, not speed. That’s what I meant. I was referring to a mindset, not to physical qualities. But naming the marathon was a dangerous formulation, because now, decades later, it caught up with me. And it wants me to do something. It wants me to run the marathon. For real.