Good Race.

Says Who?

If you’ve ever competed in some type of race, chances are pretty good that you’ve said or heard the words, “good race” at its completion.  I would probably go so far as to say you’ve definitely said and heard them.   But what do they mean?  “Good” is a subjective term and there are probably just as many different answers as to what constitutes a good race as there are people racing.  I suspect that most would agree that when spoken from one tired racer to another, the words convey a mutual respect for the effort and an appreciation of the shared experience.  How do you as the racer decide whether or not the words ring true for what you think of your race?  I raced in the Philadelphia Triathlon on Sunday while logging almost no running miles in the last seven weeks due to an injury in my lower abdomen, and after having missed the entire 2010 tri season while deployed overseas.  I went almost 4 minutes faster than I did in 2009 and placed 12^th in my age group compared to 42^nd two years ago.  I should have been very happy with the race and certain that it met the criteria for a good one.  I wasn’t.

It was the fault of one word. Expectations.  My own.  I thought that I could finish under 2:20 and that I would run sub 7 minute miles for the 10K.  I finished in 2:21:32 and ran 7:05s.  You could argue that it was not very logical to think that I would run faster than I did in ’09 given that I hardly ran in the weeks leading up to the race and I would not disagree with you.  I had a slick new bike though and ran a good Ten Miler on May 1, so I was still optimistic about my prospects for going faster and one of my first thoughts when crossing the finish line was disappointment.  My wife, being a supportive partner, reasonable, and unsaddled by the delusion of my own expectations, tried to convince me I had no reason to be disappointed.   It took a little while but I was able to eventually appreciate my effort and take away a valuable lesson that I should have learned many races before now:  time may be the measurement of choice for deciding a race but it should not be the only consideration when deciding on expectations. (It is entirely possible, and even likely, that I have learned this lesson previously and had it pushed to the portion of my brain that is turned off by the sound of a starter’s command like lights by the clapper.)  That said, I do not regret, nor do I intend to stop setting “result centric” goals, even ones that are not supported by any type of logic.  Just because the time it takes to cross the finish line should not be the only measure of a race, doesn’t mean that it’s not one of them.   That guarantees that there will be more disappointing finish lines in my future and I’m okay with that.  I just hope that my future self will also remember that there is always something good to be found in any race where you cross the finish line and it’s worth letting whatever that is take the top spot on the mental podium; appreciation looks much better than disappointment in the finish line photos.

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