“So what is the word here? Is it confirmed?”
“Shit yes. They think maybe three, four months of no training. even then it’s touch and go because of the possibility of a relapse. But at least I get out of here pretty soon.”
[…]
There were no good words for this one, he thought. A runner who could not run was out of his element. He would not even think of himself as an athlete; ridiculously there would be a kind of guilt about it; that was the worst part.
– John L. Parker, Once a Runner
“Once a Runner” or “OAR,” as it is sometimes known, is John L. Parker’s short novel about the life of competitive distance runners, in general, and a young miler named Quenton Cassidy and his teammates at Southeastern University, in particular. Whatever the book’s flaws, and it has many, it continues to bring pleasure to distance runners everywhere for its vivid and uncannily accurate portrayals of the many little moments of training and racing.
About a third of the way through OAR, something happens that is never fully explained. Cassidy’s friend and training partner, Jerry Mizner, ends up in the hospital with an unspecified ailment. Although the book never spells out what’s wrong with Mizner, the novel tells us that he will need a lengthy convalescence. That means several months without running, and even then, limits on training to avoid the possibility of a relapse. Continue reading →
the runner eclectic 