Time For A Reality Check...

Ok so I had this great idea. Since I have payed the exorbitant fee of $30 to run in Saturday's AEP Festival 5k race in downtown Roanoke, I decided to go downtown tonight and try out the course. I know, I know, great idea right? I wasn't looking to do anything crazy, just run nice and easy so I can get a good visual of the course and so that I could check out the elevation profile off my Garmin. Well the course seemed pretty easy to start off with and I guess that was when the trouble started. I clocked the first mile in 6:12 and after that it was all downhill. I ended up the easy 5k run in 22:43.

The question to ask and hopefully answer before I kill myself on Saturday is why. Why kill myself 1 mile into a three mile run when I'm racing against none but the voices in my head. Why am I not content with my best but only in striving to be better than someone else's best? Why can I not just enjoy the run?

Maybe these aren't the right questions...but what are the right questions? I'm not sure, but I'll keep thinking about it as I lay down mile after mile. As for the 5k coming up this Saturday and the 1/2 Marathon the next weekend, my goal is not a finished time I'm proud of but a run that I enjoy. So I'll be the guy hanging back and taking it all in...maybe?