Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Thought of the Day

So I was doing my run this morning, contemplating life, when an interesting question floated to the surface.

If you have a really great race - one that is up there with your all-time favorites, a new PR, a BQ, whatever - do you ever want to go back and run that same race again?

I didn't really have an answer - if you ran it again and things didn't go so well, you could end up tarnishing a great memory.  On the other hand, if you enjoyed it so much and had success, why not?

What do you think?

3 comments:

Derek said...

I think there is always the challenge of trying to set another PR. Even when you have the best race of your life there is always the possibility that you can come back even faster and stronger. If not you will always have the memories of that great race.

Anonymous said...

As a Brit can you tell me what a BQ is?

Mark said...

Of course, BQ = Boston Qualifier (ie running a marathon in a time that qualifies you for entry to the Boston marathon - a holy grail for many marathoners).

I'll bet there's not much running going on back in Blighty at the moment what with all the snow and ice.

Derek - I know what you're saying, but I also know that I've had some races where everything comes together just right and it feels almost magical. It may not even be a PR, it could just be something about the experience that transcends the norm, but I'll remember that race fondly. If I ran it again the next year and the magic wasn't there, would that diminish the original experience?

Though I guess I've answered my own question because I felt that way about Rocky Raccoon, and lo and behold I'm running it again. And I suspect I'll do White Rock again too.

I guess I'm just a competitive little bugger!!!