We Can't Always Get What We Want.....

Never has this been more evident than this past weekend.
As I wrote about earlier I was all pumped about running the 15K race this Sunday. Everything went as planned, ran the race as best as I could,I think, great conditions....no injuries.Nada !

So why am I whining ? Well, I didn't hit my goal time. I was really disappointed in all honesty.
Not the easiest course,but not that crazy either. 2 hills,1 at mile 7 and then 1 about a mile long,not steep but gradual...so in a scale of 1-10 I'd say it ranked a strong 7ish.

I guess what makes this difficult to swallow is that I was running with no evidence of speed. My wife who was 2 mins back told me that I looked like a shuffler at mile 15 of an Ironman instead of someone trying to PR. Granted this is my first attempt at a 15K so there was some conservative pacing on a course I did not pre-ride,but my time just sucked !

Maybe I'm just one of those guys that trains better than they race. It seems that I am constantly proving that to myself.

Its been written that "the race is the reward of training" and it should be a celebration of all the hard work...so why all the gloom and doom ? I guess like any normal human being, we set high standards for ourselves, and I am no exception to that. If anything, I probably aim too high. Lets face it ! I started too
late in life. Former smoker, partier, ex-fatty.... all those things took some form of a toll on my body.

But dammit !......thats no excuse. I don't want an out. I'm not going to accept the fact that my time was good enough for that day. , and that the victory is just getting to the Start.
I will however , continue to try my hardest to better myself, but this time, its going to be at improving my perspective.

Instead of improving my pace, I'll work a little harder on pacing my attitude, building my kindness muscles, and most importantly my heart.
Care a little bit more about others,less about myself.

I think this type of character building might lead to better results down the proverbial road of life.

So in a way yesterdays race was a good thing. ..and if you try sometimes, you'll get what you need!

Tune in tomorrow for my great Bill Rodgers story!