Yesterday, on a late, muggy afternoon, I ran in a race, and finished 39th of 43 men in the race. I ran as hard as I could, just as I do in every race: my goal is always to run fast and beat as many competitors as I can. I don’t run in a race for “fun” (in the conventional sense of the word): I race to know pain and to stretch my limits. (I save my “fun” running for when I’m not racing.)

So why was I pretty happy, despite getting my butt totally kicked?

For amusement, here is an excerpt of the men’s individual results of the CMU intramural XC race yesterday (billed as 2 miles but the course was clearly shorter than that):

38. 13:17.3
39. 13:27.7 (me)
40. 14:33.7
41. 14:33.71
42. 14:33.72
43. 14:59.9

Well, I was happy for a number of reasons.

For one thing, this is the first “cross-country” race I have done, so I was just plain excited to do something different.

Also, my expectations were low. Low expectations are the secret to happiness. I entered the race knowing there was a definite possibility that I would finish last. I knew many of the runners would be undergrads less than half my age, and a self-selected group too, a group that does not include the (sadly numerous) students I see around every day who take the bus down one or two blocks or take the elevator up one floor.

I was one of those students once. I was not a runner as a child, or in high school, or in college, or even in graduate school. I was sickly as a child, and also I was raised to pay no attention to physical fitness and even to look down on those who were fit (I know, sour grapes). I started running only after I left graduate school and embarked on several radical life changes (including losing 30 pounds, altering my diet, and taking up competitive ballroom dancing). So in a way, taking advantage of the opportunity (as CMU staff) to take part in the CMU intramural cross-country race was a way to fill in a gap in my collection of novel and exciting lifetime experiences.

You can bet I’ll be running this race again next year, and with every intention of placing higher.

A note on shoes

I ran yesterday’s race in my Vibram FiveFingers Bikila LS shoes, the first time I’d worn this pair of shoes in a race. I will run the Great Race in these shoes also. (More later on this blog about “minimalist shoes” and how they saved my life.)

Preview for Sunday

On Sunday I will be running the Pittsburgh Great Race 10K. This will be the ninth time I have run the race. Stay tuned for a race report on Sunday!

Below is a photo of my running it for the first time, in 2000, as the second race I had ever done (and I had never run more than three miles continuously in my life at that time). It was quite an ordeal. The following year I ran the race better prepared, 8:51 faster.