On running

I ran a 5K on Saturday. Not my first and it won't be my last. It was cold, though. And windy.

There was a lady there who I wanted to beat. She ran off out the gate like a scalded gazelle and I thought, "Oh well, if she is that fast then I'm just going to do my own race." Until I realized that she wasn't disappearing into the distance, and I was maintaining my position behind her. Then I started to creep up towards her. About two miles in, I overtook her, and then it was On. Now I was being Chased; which gave extra impetus to my run.

This was a nice course; it started in a neighborhood, then there was a long winding section along a footpath, before going back into the neighborhood. After that, it was The Course That Would Not End. So many corners! And at each one, I'm thinking, "Surely this must be the last corner now?" But no; another one lay ahead...

Meanwhile, my nemesis was still behind me. I could guesstimate how far by the people cheering us on; I could hear them cheering her behind me. Another corner; nope, not finished yet, keep going. Keep going. You got this. If she was going to beat me, I was going to make her work for it, I wanted to win or lose on my terms, not hers, and the only way to do that was to run the best race I could.

I wound up finishing about 30 seconds in front of my nemesis, at a pace that surprised me. I ran pretty fast that day in the end. Maybe we all need a nemesis now and again to spur us on. I doubt I would have run as well had I not been chased. And now I know how fast I can run.