I can honestly say that I’ve never been less prepared for a race than I am for the Denver Half Marathon this Sunday. The good news is that I’ve never been more prepared for failure than I am this time around. For the first time ever I won’t be going into a race with a time expectation or a goal in mind. Given my lack of preparation for this race I think it would be futile to have big expectations.
For me the ‘fun’ in racing has always been in achieving faster race times and in proving that I can perform at a certain (albeit mediocre) level. The race itself has never been the part that I enjoyed. The race itself is a punishing, physical exertion that I endure to get to the fun part, which is stopping my watch at the finish line sooner than I have ever stopped it previously. It’s the happy ending, if you will. The happy ending is realizing that I have accomplished what I set out to accomplish, that I have run faster than ever before. The happy ending is the improved race time which is the payoff of all the hard work that I put in during the weeks and months leading up to the race. However, since there has been little to no hard work leading up to this race it would be idiotic to believe that there is going to be a happy ending.
My challenge this Sunday will be to enjoy the race. I’m not looking for a happy ending, I’m looking for a happy beginning and middle. Instead of waiting until the end of the race to be happy, I’ll be happy right from the get go. Prematurely happy, if you like. On Sunday I will run just for the love of running, I’ll run for the camaraderie, and for all that other sappy, feel good crap that other people talk about. Perhaps it will be the shot in the arm that I need to get myself back on track. At a minimum it should result in some good race pictures, at least that’s what the Chic Runner says will happen when you ‘run for fun.’
I have no doubt that the future holds more PRs for me. I am certain that there will be many more races where I endure the pain to capture the glory, but Sunday will not be one of them. Sunday I will run to enjoy running. I’ll be the goofy idiot that’s smiling and chatting with anyone who will listen. I’ve always wanted to be that guy.
Way to keep everyone's expectations low...
ReplyDeletewith any luck you will forget to hit start on your watch and have absolutely no idea how long you are taking to enjoy yourself!
ReplyDeleteYou should wear those sweet cargo shorts again!
ReplyDeleteIf you don't have a happy ending at the race maybe you will get one later at home?
ReplyDeleteAt least you're supposed to have good weather. That's what Kathy Sabine said at least. Better not be one of her lies.
Don't lie, your goal is to beat Candis. Because let's be honest, she probably has a real shot this race.
ReplyDeleteI just ran a 15K for fun and had no time goal in mind other than to finish the race. Somehow all the stars aligned though and I managed to get a PR by over 2 minutes! I will never know how that happened but it was quite the miracle.
ReplyDeleteHappy Ending at home, as in the beer, Happy Ending?
ReplyDeleteyeah... you totally lost me after the mention of a happy ending.
ReplyDeletewhat now?
Sandbagger.
ReplyDeleteSo during your hiatus, you went existential, huh?
I wish you luck like I had with my marathon this past weekend :)
ReplyDeleteI always strive to be 'that guy' - the guy that high fives the kids, that thanks all the volunteers, that chats with passers by etc. I don't know that I've been successful yet. I always look and sound like I'm dying. Good luck in being THAT GUY this weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sacrificing a PR so that I might get one. I like the yin and yang of our races.
ReplyDeleteBut I hope you get a happy ending even if you don't get a happy ending.
There will probably be 3 feet of snow on the course anyway, so you can always blame the weather for a course PW.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the race.
ReplyDeleteBut is it really a "race" if you don't nearly puke or shit yourself? You could do #2 quite a bit what with all the room in those cargo short pockets.
Unprepared? So you may have been...but at least you didn't have a broken foot and waste your ENTIRE entry fee. Plus, there is the awful humiliation of having to go pick up your race packet (i.e. the t-shirt that now cost me $100) in the hideous ortho Boot and the sad realization that you are NOT going to be part of the race day excitement.
ReplyDeleteUnprepared sounds more fun.