What a mistake. Starting in the back of a large race with the walkers andjoggers2 left me in a mile-long human traffic jam. Running through a wide greenvalley in the Ogden Half Marathon， I already felt a sense of loss. And it was stillonly mile 1.

I started at the back of the pack to keep my nieces company. I thought I couldwork my way up to the two-hour pacer3 who was holding a bright orange sign. Butat the end of the first mile， I was still stuck between joggers and walkers， trying towork my way through the crowd. The pacer had left me far behind.

The two-hour half marathon had been a goal I’d chased4 for years. Betweengiving birth to five children， I’d done lots of half marathons and gotten decent5times： 2：05， 2：08， 2：02. But the elusive6 sub-two-hour evaded7 me.

This was my year to make that goal. I’d been training hard for that distanceand that time. I’d done the speed work and gone overboard on long distance bytraining for the full marathon. My goal time was within my grasp8. This was myrace. But in the back of my mind， I knew my time in the first few miles wascritical9. And that first mile wasn’t nearly fast enough.

To make up for the lost time， I would need to go faster than I had trained forthe remaining 12 miles of the race—a rookie10 mistake I had learned not torepeat long ago. It’s a factor for burnout and failure. Today， of all days， I did notwant to fail.

真是個(gè)錯(cuò)誤。在一場(chǎng)大型比賽中，我與步行者和慢跑者一起從后面起跑，這讓我陷入了長(zhǎng)達(dá)一英里的人流擁堵中。在穿過奧格登半程馬拉松賽中一片寬闊的綠色山谷后，我已經(jīng)有了一種失落感。然而這還只是第一英里。

為了陪伴我的侄女們，我從人群的后面出發(fā)。我以為我可以努力追趕上舉著亮橙色標(biāo)牌的兩小時(shí)配速員那里。但在第一英里結(jié)束時(shí)，我仍然被夾在慢跑者和步行者之間，試著努力穿過人群。配速員已經(jīng)把我遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)甩在了后面。

兩小時(shí)的半程馬拉松是我多年來一直追求的目標(biāo)。在生了五個(gè)孩子期間，我跑了很多半程馬拉松，并取得了不錯(cuò)的成績(jī)：兩小時(shí)零五分、兩小時(shí)零八分、兩小時(shí)零兩分。但我未能達(dá)成難以達(dá)成的兩個(gè)小時(shí)以內(nèi)的成績(jī)。

這是我要達(dá)成這個(gè)目標(biāo)的一年。為了達(dá)到這個(gè)距離和時(shí)間，我一直在刻苦訓(xùn)練。我已經(jīng)完成了速度訓(xùn)練，并通過做全程馬拉松訓(xùn)練在長(zhǎng)距離上訓(xùn)練到了極致。我有把握達(dá)到我的目標(biāo)時(shí)間。這是我的比賽。但我心里清楚，我最初幾英里的時(shí)間很關(guān)鍵。而在第一英里我還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠快。

為了彌補(bǔ)失去的時(shí)間，我需要在剩下的十二英里比賽中跑得比我訓(xùn)練時(shí)更快———這是我很久以前就學(xué)會(huì)了不要再犯的新手錯(cuò)誤。這是導(dǎo)致精疲力竭和失敗的因素。尤其在今天，我不想失敗。

During the second mile， I finally worked my way out of the joggers in theback. I found a clear lane11 and plodded forward， determined to finish strong. Selfdoubtgnawed12 at me as I saw the two-hour pacer dip13 over a distant snowcappedhill. I wondered if I would ever see the pace group again.

That’s when a silvery braid bounced14 by me. Going a little faster than mycurrent pace， a woman about my height and build strode15 away. She was probably20 years my senior. And there she was， stepping away from me in my race.

I wondered how long she had prepared for this event. Months？ Years？ Thiswas clearly not her first half marathon. I felt it also wouldn’t be her last. I foundmyself accelerating16 to match her even strides. I imagined reaching out to holdthat braid like a guide rope. If I could hang on with her， I would finish strong.

Near the fourth mile， what felt like a miracle occurred. My silver-braidedcompanion17 and I caught up to the two-hour pace group. I relaxed， happy to bewith the right crowd. But she did not. She passed through the two-hour group，running steadily18 ahead of them.

Something in my heart was still attached19 to her flowing braid. I followedher， knowing even if I slowed near the race’s end， the pacer was behind me and Icould still make my goal. Coming down a path that crossed a forest， she ran evenfaster. I followed.

Around mile 10， the increase in crowd support inspired me to pick up mypace. The disco music at the water stop really got me going. I caught a secondwind. Silver Braid was slowing. I passed her as the music filled the air around us.

在第二英里的比賽中，我終于從后面的慢跑者中掙脫出來。我找到了一條暢通的路線，艱難地向前推進(jìn)，決心要堅(jiān)持到底。當(dāng)我看到兩小時(shí)配速員消失在遠(yuǎn)處的一座白雪皚皚的小山那邊時(shí)，我的自我懷疑折磨著我。我懷疑是否還能再見到配速員組。

就在這時(shí)，一條銀色的辮子從我身邊彈了過去。一位身高和體型與我相仿的女士跑得比我現(xiàn)在的速度快了一點(diǎn)，大步地將我甩在了身后。她可能比我大20 歲。她就在那里，在我的比賽中甩開了我。

我想知道她為這次活動(dòng)準(zhǔn)備了多長(zhǎng)時(shí)間。幾個(gè)月？幾年？這顯然不是她第一次參加半程馬拉松比賽。我覺得這也不會(huì)是她的最后一次。我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在加速，以趕上她均勻的步伐。我想象著伸出手來像牽繩一樣抓住那條辮子。如果我能緊緊跟上她，我會(huì)堅(jiān)持到底。

在接近第四英里時(shí)，奇跡發(fā)生了。我和我的銀色辮子同伴趕上了兩小時(shí)配速員組。我松了一口氣，很高興能和合適的人群待在一起。但她沒有。她穿過兩小時(shí)配速員組，穩(wěn)穩(wěn)地跑在他們前面。

我心里還惦記著她那飄逸的辮子。我跟著她，知道即使我在比賽快結(jié)束時(shí)放慢速度，配速員也在我身后，我仍然可以達(dá)成目標(biāo)。跑過一條穿過樹林的小路后，她跑得更快了。我緊隨其后。

在第十英里左右，人群支持的增加激勵(lì)我加快步伐。補(bǔ)水站的迪斯科音樂真讓我動(dòng)力十足。我重新獲得了動(dòng)力?！般y辮子”正在減速。當(dāng)音樂回蕩在我們周圍的空中時(shí)，我從她身邊超過。

Mile 11， with the music behind me， I felt the sadness with my poor，tired legs. Glancing at my watch， I was excited to be far ahead of myprojected training time. But I also felt the strain20 of the additionalspeed. I was getting to the end of my endurance21. My body hit a wall.

Silver Braid passed me again. She gave me a thumbs-up and saidsomething encouraging my exhausted mind. Praising her steadiness22， Ifell in behind her. My focus was still on the end of her braid.

Mile 12 was the hardest mile. Knowing the finish line was close， but feelingthe aching body， I was tempted23 to walk. But just then， new inspiration foundme. A college-age girl from the crowd started shouting and running ahead of us.

“Go， Ann！ That’s my mom！ ”the girl shouted.“Keep it up， Ann！ ”

Silver Braid had a daughter and a name. If Ann could keep going， socould I.

The thought crossed my mind that maybe someone behind me was watchingmy brown braid， needing my strength. A chain of runners stretched ahead of meand behind me. We pulled each other along.

I crossed the finish line a full 10 minutes faster than my old personal recordand eight minutes faster than my goal. 1：52！ Looking at my watch， I couldbarely believe it. It was more than I had hoped for. But I couldn’t take credit24for it. I ran the race borrowing strength from Ann.

Ann finished a few seconds ahead of me. She hugged her cheeringdaughter and then turned to give me a hug. She said my persistence25had inspired her. I know her steadiness carried me.

That day， Ann gave me something that she didn’t know she washanding out. She gave me an example of fortitude26. Hard days andslow miles come to all of us， but we keep running. If we draw on thepeople around us， we can all finish strong.

到了第十一英里，音樂被我拋在了身后，我拖著我那可憐疲憊的雙腿感到有些悲傷。瞥了一眼手表，我很興奮我能遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過我預(yù)計(jì)的訓(xùn)練時(shí)間。但我也感受到了額外速度帶來的壓力。我的耐力快要達(dá)到極限了。我的身體遇到了無法克服的困難。

“銀辮子”再次從我身邊超過。她對(duì)我豎起大拇指，說了一些話來鼓勵(lì)精疲力盡的我。我稱贊了她的堅(jiān)定，就跟在她后面。我的注意力仍然集中在她辮子末端。

第十二英里是最艱難的一英里。雖然知道終點(diǎn)線近在咫尺，但感受到了身體的疼痛，我忍不住就要步行了。然而就在那時(shí)，新的激勵(lì)出現(xiàn)了。人群中一個(gè)大學(xué)年齡模樣的女孩開始大喊大叫，跑在我們前面。

“沖呀，安！那是我的媽媽！”女孩喊道，“堅(jiān)持下去，安！”

“銀辮子”有了一個(gè)女兒和一個(gè)名字。如果安能堅(jiān)持下去，我也能。

我突然想到，也許有人在我身后正看著我的棕色辮子，需要我的力量。一連串的跑步者在我前后延伸開去，我們互相牽動(dòng)著前進(jìn)。

我沖過終點(diǎn)線，比我以前的個(gè)人紀(jì)錄快了整整十分鐘，比我的目標(biāo)快了八分鐘。一小時(shí)五十二分！看著我的手表，我簡(jiǎn)直不敢相信。它超出了我的期望。但我不能沾沾自喜。我是借用了安的力量跑完比賽的。

安領(lǐng)先我?guī)酌腌娡瓿杀荣?。她擁抱了為她歡呼的女兒，然后轉(zhuǎn)身給了我一個(gè)擁抱。她說我的堅(jiān)持不懈激勵(lì)了她。我知道她的堅(jiān)定使我成功。

那天，安給了我一些她不知道自己正在給予別人的東西。她給了我一個(gè)堅(jiān)韌的榜樣。我們所有人都會(huì)遇到困苦和低谷，但我們一直在奔跑。如果我們依靠周圍的人，我們都可以堅(jiān)持到底。

（英語原文選自：chickensoup.com）