I started running 2½ years ago and in that time every race that I have run has been a new PR. It’s really not as impressive as it sounds, but that doesn’t stop me from boasting about it to everyone who’ll listen without adding any kind of disclaimer whatsoever. Why is this accomplishment unimpressive? In the first 2 years of my running career I only ran 3 races, the 2005, 2006 and 2007 Bolder Boulder 10K. It really shouldn’t be a surprise that I was able to get faster each time after having a full year to train for it. Since the last Bolder Boulder I have run 2 other races, both at new distances (a 5K and a Half Marathon) so both of those were PRs by default.
Nevertheless, I will continue to boast about running a PR in every race I’ve ever run ever ever in my whole entire life ever. At some point in time this streak will end. Perhaps it will end in 6 weeks when I run the Rudolph’s Revenge 10K, especially if there is snow on the ground, or perhaps it will end in next year’s Bolder Boulder. As I begin to run more races I will have to find new ways to claim a PR. For example if I fail to PR in the Rudolph’s Revenge 10K I can call it my Winter 10K PR. This article suggests that we should have different PRs for many different situations. A winter PR, a summer PR, a road race PR, a trail race PR, PRs for each different course you run, PRs for each different type of weather you run in, PRs for each different type of sports drink that was served during the race, PRs for a course that is a loop, PRs for courses that are point-to-point. I may have a 10K PR in a race that served Gatorade that is different from my 10K PR in the race that served Accelerade.
Come December 15th I’ll be running the Rudolph’s Revenge 10K in which I’ll hope to set a new 10K PR for myself in a winter race where the temperature is between 40 and 50 degrees, where Gatorade is served, on a course that is an out-and-back loop, consisting mostly of hills, that starts at 10:00am, at an altitude of 5446 feet. I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but I think it’s a virtual lock that I PR. High Five!
Lets not forget - if you are doing these races annually - you automatically PR. At each age you have an entire year that may make you faster ... but also makes you older. So next year, when you are a year older, you PR for that age and that race. (This logic does get trickier when you run multiple races of the same distance within the same year!)
ReplyDeleteGood job I checked that link to the article to learn...
ReplyDelete"According to the Oxford Dictionary of Running, a PR (pronounced pee arr)".
And all this time I was pronouncing it eep eeer!
Wow, the race is at Chatfield? I used to go water skiing there.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the PR endeavor!
HIGH FIVE!!
ReplyDeleteSweet, I'm totally going to make up different kinds of PR's then I won't get all moody like I did after my last race. I mean that was a personal PR for San Francisco!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant - I just had a Half-Fast PR. Read your post faster today than yesterday!!!
ReplyDeleteYou da man!!!!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of all the random baseball stats out there...
ReplyDeleteBut I like your approach, I too will be adopting it.
I guess I'm a wuss, cuz that Rudolph can take his revenge and shove it. 6 miles of hills at an altitude? Just have an abulance waitin' at the end if I was there.
ReplyDeleteBut I do like the PR theory. Always lookin' for the positive.
That's still better than a lot of people ever do.
ReplyDelete...
Any PR is outstanding, keep it up.
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