Why is this silly little lie important when Ryan has made so many more serious political lies? Because it shows a pattern of mendacity.

…read the interview. He neither mis-spoke nor mis-remembered; he boasted about the feat with specificity and swagger.

Asked if he still ran marathons (plural), Ryan answered “Yeah, but I can’t do it anymore, because my back is just not that great.” When fanboy Hewitt interjected, “I’ve just gotta ask, what’s your personal best?” Ryan fatefully answered “Under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something.” The adoring Hewitt exclaimed “Holy smokes!” To which Ryan humbly answered, “I was fast when I was younger, yeah.”

Of course the world now knows that Ryan ran exactly one marathon, and he completed it in just over four hours, not under three. Runners World got the scoop, because marathoners know that Ryan’s claim, if true, was extraordinary. Ryan admitted he got his time wrong in a statement to Runners World, noting “The race was more than 20 years ago.”

So why would Ryan lie? He’s incredibly fit. No one doubts that he does a grueling P90X workout every day. A Google search for “paul ryan shirtless” yields almost 2.2 million results. Why would he feel he had to embellish his remarkable athletic achievements?

Because he thought he could.