...tion....

There are a lot of words that end in "tion" that rhyme.  Most of them are introspective.  When I thought about writing this post a couple weeks ago, I was (and maybe still am) battling an infection just above my heal and a couple of other places on my leg from scrape and burns ( C&E's) to remove basal cells.  So, infection was the first "tion" word I thought about.  While I could not run for almost a week (although I walked), I started to reflect (reflection) on running.  In a previous post I wrote about how to stay involved in running while not being able to run.  One way is to reflect upon accomplishments and what those have meant, ways to improve, the challenges faced and the experiences.  Then, I looked to the future (projection) for what lies ahead in 2015 and beyond.  Hopefully, in 2015 I will complete (completion) finishing a marathon in all 50 states and DC.  How about introspection, taking a look inside on what running has done for me as a person and how I can become a better person?  If we think we can't become better people, we are sadly mistaken.  As Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."  I will take this one step further and say, "the examined life unmodified is a shame."  Instead of pointing at those around us, maybe we should look a little deeper into ourselves and then influence others, obviously easier said than done.  These are all "tion" words that can easily be contemplated while running.  In December, I will explore these a bit more in relation (hah, another "tion" word) to running.  A Google search turns up 2,587 words that end in "tion".  Words ending in "tion" range from 6-letter words to 23-letter words inclusively and one 29-letter word.  Are they all legitimate words?  I don't know because some people just stick "tion" onto a word to take a verb and make it a noun whether it is legitimate or not.  The "tion" words are derived this way anyway.  No matter the case, there are a lot of them but the ones that came to mind last week were the ones while I as "in the moment" - infection, reflection, projection and completion.

Days 321-336: 58 miles; 2014: 1,566 miles