Personal Victories

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a champion for the slower runner.  Heck, I am a slower runner.  Now, that doesn’t mean that I have anything against the faster runners.  Some of my best friends are speed demons.  It’s all about what’s right for you.

Over the weekend, I was re-reading Hal Higdon’s Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide and I came across this quote:

In a marathon, except at the elite level, you don’t beat others, as you might in a mile or a 100-meter dash. Instead, you achieve a personal victory. If others finish in front of or behind you, it is only that their personal victories are more or less than yours. A person finishing behind you with less talent, or of a different age or sex, or various other limiting factors, may have achieved a far greater victory.

That’s exactly it (though I would say it applies to shorter races as well, including 5ks).  Distance running, unless you are an elite or just very fast in your local races, is all about challenging yourself.  You will hear runners talk about their PRs – their personal records – the best they’ve ever run that distance or that course, depending on how they choose to view it.  Sometimes they divide those times pre-injury or post injury.  For me, it’s pre and post health diagnosis.

Someone can finish a race before you and have had a terrible race and be disappointed in their time while you finished an hour later and are delighted with yours.  And these are both appropriate reactions.  And someone may have finished an hour after you and be delighted with their time.  It’s all about what your body can do and how you are challenging it.

Let’s be honest – most of us will never be elite runners.  Heck, most of us will never win an age group award unless we are still running in our 80’s (though I am regularly beaten in local races by a woman in her 80’s).  So let’s not focus on what others are doing.  Focus on you.  How was your race?  Maybe your goal was to finally break 3:30 on the half marathon, and you did it!  Congrats!  Don’t feel bad because the woman next to you on the bus ran a sub-2 hour marathon.  Everyone is different.  Celebrate you.