bluebonnet
"hope springs eternal," quoteth the slightly-inebriated jack wilkinson at the post-race cookout, the topic of conversation i cannot recall. speculation suggests topics such as "winning one's age group," "completing a given distance," or "getting some young girl's phone number."
nevertheless, here's a speculative topic: falling prs. today, i cracked a 9-year-old watermark that has been haunting me ever since the first time i tried to break it back in 1995: i ran an 18:11 at the wellness 5k in dubois, pa on a flat out-and-back. i would guess that it was sometime around the year 2000 where i simply gave up on ever touching that pr. this morning, on a whim by rachel z. to get me out this weekend, i shattered that forgotten mark by 2 seconds on a mostly flat out-and-back that ended with a .5 mile uphill.
hope springs eternal.
i felt in control throughout the entire race. i chipped my way into 7th overall, 2nd in age (1st in age edged me with 50m to go). i had no idea what to expect heading into this race--it has been >4 years since i actually raced a distance this short. i think the time-induced amnesia paid off: after mile 1, all i could think was "jeez, i run 13 milers on the weekends, and there's 2 miles left in this race? christ, this race is over... kick it in."
the race's namesake is in honor of the wildflower multitude that greets the locals every day outside during this month in the town of burnet texas (see photography). today's weather was overcast-turing-into-rain, however, there were still worthy pictures to be taken, the course still held the rustic beauty that it was advertised as having. a picturesque day.
hope truly does spring eternal.
previously, i have spoke on how running possibly is a gift to myself from my past. if this is so, then all of my previous prs and finish times are a gift to me today from my past as well. and if that is so, then this morning was me accepting that gift, tossing it on the ground, beating it to pieces with a baseball bat, and returning it to sender with a note: "thanks for the watermark. the past 108 months have been splendid. here's your worthless pr back. next time, try harder."
the race was very remnicient of the races i grew up running in high school: some 5k/5m run associated with some town square/parking lot festival with ~100 participants. where the race director just shouts directions as loud as she can without a microphone or script, and the starting line is the white crosswalk tape that just happens to be at that intersection. where the finish line is nothing more than two orange cones 8 feet apart from one another in the middle of the street (note: nonetheless, the race was chip-timed. it would have been a real treat if the race was popsicle stick-timed). where people stay for the whole awards ceremony, for many in the crowd know almost all of the winners. i haven't felt that in a long time, since living in the cosmo land of milk and honey that is metropolitan austin texas. maybe that egged me on today. the feeling of being close to my roots allowed me to relax and take control.
now to take that feeling and project it onto everyday life.
nevertheless, here's a speculative topic: falling prs. today, i cracked a 9-year-old watermark that has been haunting me ever since the first time i tried to break it back in 1995: i ran an 18:11 at the wellness 5k in dubois, pa on a flat out-and-back. i would guess that it was sometime around the year 2000 where i simply gave up on ever touching that pr. this morning, on a whim by rachel z. to get me out this weekend, i shattered that forgotten mark by 2 seconds on a mostly flat out-and-back that ended with a .5 mile uphill.
hope springs eternal.
i felt in control throughout the entire race. i chipped my way into 7th overall, 2nd in age (1st in age edged me with 50m to go). i had no idea what to expect heading into this race--it has been >4 years since i actually raced a distance this short. i think the time-induced amnesia paid off: after mile 1, all i could think was "jeez, i run 13 milers on the weekends, and there's 2 miles left in this race? christ, this race is over... kick it in."
the race's namesake is in honor of the wildflower multitude that greets the locals every day outside during this month in the town of burnet texas (see photography). today's weather was overcast-turing-into-rain, however, there were still worthy pictures to be taken, the course still held the rustic beauty that it was advertised as having. a picturesque day.
hope truly does spring eternal.
previously, i have spoke on how running possibly is a gift to myself from my past. if this is so, then all of my previous prs and finish times are a gift to me today from my past as well. and if that is so, then this morning was me accepting that gift, tossing it on the ground, beating it to pieces with a baseball bat, and returning it to sender with a note: "thanks for the watermark. the past 108 months have been splendid. here's your worthless pr back. next time, try harder."
the race was very remnicient of the races i grew up running in high school: some 5k/5m run associated with some town square/parking lot festival with ~100 participants. where the race director just shouts directions as loud as she can without a microphone or script, and the starting line is the white crosswalk tape that just happens to be at that intersection. where the finish line is nothing more than two orange cones 8 feet apart from one another in the middle of the street (note: nonetheless, the race was chip-timed. it would have been a real treat if the race was popsicle stick-timed). where people stay for the whole awards ceremony, for many in the crowd know almost all of the winners. i haven't felt that in a long time, since living in the cosmo land of milk and honey that is metropolitan austin texas. maybe that egged me on today. the feeling of being close to my roots allowed me to relax and take control.
now to take that feeling and project it onto everyday life.
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