Frank Shorter — American Athlete born on October 31, 1947,

Frank Charles Shorter is an American former long-distance runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. His Olympic successes, along with the achievements of other American runners, are credited with igniting the running boom in the United States during the 1970s... (wikipedia)

A good athlete always mentally replays a competition over and over, even in victory, to see what might be done to improve the performance the next time.
For the novice runner, I'd say to give yourself at least 2 months of consistently running several times a week at a conversational pace before deciding whether you want to stick with it. Consistency is the most important aspect of training at this point.
So, in a way I was hedging and saying that if the Olympic stuff doesn't work out at least I can be a lawyer.
I admire runners older than I - they are now my heroes. I want to be like them as I grow older.
Experience has taught me how important it is to just keep going, focusing on running fast and relaxed. Eventually it passes and the flow returns. It's part of racing.