so frickin' close

Today I ran the Fitness Mind, Body Spirit Games 4 mile race sponsored by the New York Road Runners, and completed the race in 38:18 averaging 9:34 a mile.

Just shy of my personal record. By how much you ask?

Three seconds. Three goddamn seconds.

Seriously, if I had just dug down a little deeper at the end and gotten a good sprint I would have had a new PR!!

And then also would probably have puked. I was on the edge of vomiting already; the last several yards were up a steep hill. Bastards had to go and plan the race that way.

Okay I totally know that I should be reveling in such an amazing accomplishment. Yeah, I am aware that I am totally lucky to be back running again after having my knee surgery and that getting this speed improvement is a bonus.

But runners don't work that way. We want to do better. And when we do hit a new best we look at what we did wrong so we can go even faster the next time. You may be running a race but your main competitor is yourself.

That's one of the reasons so many people will run more than one marathon. Twenty-six point two miles offers endless opportunities to make improvements. After completing the race all you do is look back at oh so many choices you could have made differently.

It is ironic that in my life this is the only thing I really allow myself to "what if" over. My life choices have molded me, and since I like who I am this makes me grateful for my experiences.

Guess I’ll be adding more hill work to my running schedule for that next race…