Racing!

Opening gifts on CHRISTmas morning.  That is what racing should be for a runner.  Racing is the end result of training.  If you don’t find value in racing, then training has no purpose.  A person who trains without racing is a person who buys groceries and makes the meal and then throws it in the garbage without eating it.  Racing is different than training.  Training is an opportunity to practice the skills required to race. For example, pace in practice helps us to push ourselves.  Running pace in practice helps us to train our body to race.  However, running pace for pace sake in races is detrimental.  Throw away your watch on race day.  Once the gun goes off, the pace keeps you from going too fast or too slow but it should not control the race.  Competing with others is what should control the race.  Races are an opportunity to put the skills to the test.  Racing should be fun and should be hard.  Races are an opportunity to benefit from the hard work and long hours of training.  “Racing” is to “Performing Surgery” as “Training” is to “Med School”.  Paying all of that money and putting in all of that time and stress to earn an MD and then sit around looking at the framed diploma is like an athlete who trains hard for weeks and months and years and never races.