Marathoning Right

       In this day and age, streaming television shows to all of your devices is as simple as a flip of a coin. A lot simpler than running twenty-six miles. Our generation is really good at two things, marathoning and marathoning right. We run and we watch TV.

     

  Marathons are at an all-time high, with thousands of people participating in the Color Run, the Biggest-Loser Run/Walk, the Turkey Trot, the Boston Marathon, you name it. In your local area I’m sure you will find at least twenty plus races a year. And these races help raise awareness to certain causes, they support your local community, and are just plain good for your health. Being fit and exercising is one of the keys to your longevity in life. So why not jump on the band wagon and run with thousands of others for the pride of accomplishing something.

While marathons are great and all, there is another kind of marathoning that I enjoy so much more. It comes to the extreme opposite of running, by means of sitting your butt on the couch. With the remote in your hand, a bag of chips in your lap, and a soft blanket wrapped around your back, all you need to focus on is the screen to unwind from a stressful week. Maybe you are stressed from running the half marathon yesterday, well turn on Game of Thrones and stayed tuned in for three episodes back to back. BAM…instant stress relief.

        I own a rather large movie collection, and an equally large TV show collection. And while I still love watching good movies over and over like National Treasure, it is the TV shows that I can watch again and again while staying so invested in them. There is so much going on in every episode that the more times that you watch it, the more you will catch. See TV shows have more time to develop their characters, they are typically forty-five minutes per episode, with anywhere from ten to twenty-five episodes a season. Whereas movies only have an hour and a half to three hours to make you fall in love with the characters and then watch their whole life unfold before your eyes. In a way, movie directors/writers definitely have more of a challenge for all that they need to fit into such a short period of time.

        Some of my personal favorite shows consist of, but are not limited to: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, Supernatural, Pretty Little Liars, 24, and F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

       I can and have watched them all over and over, and even have some episodes memorized line for line. That is the joy of marathoning right, you fall in love, have your heart ripped out, and hold so much anticipated excitement that you need to immediately follow this episode with the next. How could Joss Whedon or Kurt Sutter do that to our favorite character, we think in our head. Sometimes we yell at the screen, “Sam Winchester, what the hell are you thinking?” We cry at the most heart-wrenching scenes. These characters become our family. We watch the characters grow up over the show’s span on television, as if they were our own children. A piece of our life is almost gone when our favorite show ends, grieving taking its place. What are we supposed to do every Thursday night at eight o’clock now?

       It is kind of like one of those relationships you’ve had in the past, where you gave it your all…and when nothing was left to give, you broke up. Yes, the end was messy, but you wouldn’t change that relationship, because it was a significant time in your life with a person you truly felt you loved. The same goes with TV shows, sometimes just good things need to come to an end. Be happy you were able to watch it, even if it was for only seven years.

       Marathons are great things; you get to do what you enjoy for an extended period of time, which is really the American dream. Let’s face it though, that isn’t just an American dream, it is a human dream. Doing what you love, no matter what it is. Marathon however you want to, because as long as you like doing it, it will always be right.