Running is my passion. No matter what kind of running I am doing at the moment I am enjoying it.
I love running races. I love training for races. Running a race gives me a goal. Training for a race gives me an opportunity to achieve my goal.
I look at every race as an opportunity to set an new PR. When I sign up for a race I set up my training program and decide what time I want to finish. The answer is always simple: faster than my current PR.
Training gives me discipline. When I am training for a race I try to follow my program exactly. Distance, time and effort are my goals that I need to reach for each run. I always use Hal Higdon's training programs. He has three levels of programs for novice, intermediate and advanced runners. I usually use either an intermediate or advanced program depending on my goal and where I feel I am physically.
I always feel like training is more fun. Until race day comes and I am ready to rock! The adrenaline kick I get during a race is unbelievable. The thrill of passing people that are 60 pounds lighter than me and seeing their faces when I pass them is great. "This fat guy can't be passing me!?!" That is what I think they are thinking anyway. I actually had a guy at the starting line tell his buddy, "I am gonna get behind this guy, he looks fast." I don't know if it was a compliment or not, but I took it as not. He finished somewhere in the top 5. I finished 7th. And I got my PR. Good enough for me. Better believe I was thinking about that comment the entire race. Even after he disappeared from my sight. I have finished a race in a head-to-head sprint with a guy that looked like he should have beaten me. Yep, I beat him.
Not every race has something exciting. And when I don't get my PR I go back and try to figure out what went wrong with my training. I take my training schedule serious so whether I hit my goal or not I know I worked hard.
I love running races. I love training for races. Running a race gives me a goal. Training for a race gives me an opportunity to achieve my goal.
I look at every race as an opportunity to set an new PR. When I sign up for a race I set up my training program and decide what time I want to finish. The answer is always simple: faster than my current PR.
Training gives me discipline. When I am training for a race I try to follow my program exactly. Distance, time and effort are my goals that I need to reach for each run. I always use Hal Higdon's training programs. He has three levels of programs for novice, intermediate and advanced runners. I usually use either an intermediate or advanced program depending on my goal and where I feel I am physically.
I always feel like training is more fun. Until race day comes and I am ready to rock! The adrenaline kick I get during a race is unbelievable. The thrill of passing people that are 60 pounds lighter than me and seeing their faces when I pass them is great. "This fat guy can't be passing me!?!" That is what I think they are thinking anyway. I actually had a guy at the starting line tell his buddy, "I am gonna get behind this guy, he looks fast." I don't know if it was a compliment or not, but I took it as not. He finished somewhere in the top 5. I finished 7th. And I got my PR. Good enough for me. Better believe I was thinking about that comment the entire race. Even after he disappeared from my sight. I have finished a race in a head-to-head sprint with a guy that looked like he should have beaten me. Yep, I beat him.
Not every race has something exciting. And when I don't get my PR I go back and try to figure out what went wrong with my training. I take my training schedule serious so whether I hit my goal or not I know I worked hard.
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