The Sunburst Race over the weekend reminded me of how hard it is to be consistent. I taught a class in Media this year and touched on the challenge of being a consistent performer. I struggled with that issue when I was in my 20’s. Some days I was Larry Bird, some days I was Larry Sanders. (If I was struggling now I would update my “Larry” to “Larry David.”) (Actually I would have to have been in my 30’s for Sanders to be accurate. Don’t tell anyone.) (Pretty sure I’m not Larry Bird right now writing this.)
There are days you just…don’t…have…it. Or at least, all of it. When I wore a younger man’s clothes (I think they were Billy Joel’s. Or was it Larry Joel?) I would get really frustrated the days I didn’t have all of it, and so I would end up giving about 10 percent on the air. Over the years I’ve learned to accept those days, relax, keep swinging, and maybe at least get to 75 percent. And most people probably don’t notice the 25 percent change from day to day. But they’d notice the 90. So don’t do that, kids.
The last three half-marathons I’ve run have all ended up between 2 hours, no minutes and 2 hours and 1 minute. I’ve been hoping to run one just under 2 hours. Saturday’s Race had other ideas. It was the first time I’ve seen the Red Flags flying during such an event. The heat+humidity was pretty intense. About 5 miles in (and 46 minutes already behind me) I resigned myself to at least a shade over 2 hours. By about 7 miles I was hoping to be done within 2 and a half hours. I was frustrated and ready to do my 10 percent – just walk the rest of the way. Instead I ran a little slower, distracted myself thinking about this post that I was already mentally writing, and dragged my scrawny sweaty butt across the field at Notre Dame at around 2:07. This is a three paragraph answer to the often-asked question: “why do you run?” It can help remind you of things.
I’m waving the red flag for you Tuesday & Wednesday of this week, when it will feel like last Saturday all over again.
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Filiz says
“For those of you that have been craving the sictky/summer weather (and for those that despise it you should also take notice)”…You make me laugh 😀 I’ve been making use of your site for a long time, I appreciate the hard work you put into this. Many thanks from the davis center 🙂