ESPN the Magazine had an article about people who have some trait or have had something happen which gives them an advantage when running long distances. For one person they process oxygen more efficiently producing more red blood cells giving them significantly more stamina than the average person. Another woman had her toenails removed and it seems to really help. The one that struck me however was a woman who had a part of her brain removed to help eliminate seizures and as a result she now seems to have lost her ability to remember how far she has run, which manages to trick her system into greater stamina. The problem I see however is that as a runner I like knowing how far I have run and mentally knowing that I am capable of running or that I need to/want to run further can keep me going. I suppose for some people not remembering removes an obstacle, but for others it is the memory itself and perhaps even the overcoming of it, the moving beyond it, that really motivates. We all have things we might like to forget, but often in forgetting we fail to deal with them and then they come back to haunt us. I personally choose to remember and to face things because I think we have to, but that doesn’t mean I can’t understand the allure of forgetting.