Saying Good-bye to 'On a Wing and a Prayer'

I am looking forward to running competitively next year because I will have over 365 days of training behind me. This year, 2009, I had seven years or over 2500 days of inactivity behind me. The seven years dates back to the birth of our first child. In many of the races i entered this year, especially early in the season, I was aspiring to merely finish the race.

I was competing against many runners who had been training for over 2500 days. I was disappointed with some of my performances this year. However, I need to keep my calendar year 2009 performances in a healthy and realistic perspective.

Also, in many instances I was trying to race at events before I was sufficiently trained for them. This resulted in a fair number of muscle pulls and strains that contributed to several weeks of recovery time.

If you were to map out my paces per mile over several events this year, you would see I had a precipitous decline in my pace after the two and a half mile marker in most races. I would like to increase my stamina in 2010 to the point where I will be able to run four solid miles before my pace declines.

While I will most likely be running in only six or seven races in 2010 because of a financial re-prioritization of our family's goals for the year, I hope to enjoy as much road racing satisfaction as I did this year.


Excerpted from http://www.phrases.org.uk

On a Wing and a Prayer - Meaning
In poor condition, but just managing to get the job done.

Origin
This phrase originated with the WWII patriotic song Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer (1943), by Harold Adamson and Jimmie McHugh, which tells of a damaged warplane, barely able to limp back to base.