Manhattan Half Today

Only runners can understand why we run. There is so much training. So much time to commit. Hard work. Major commitment. Running early in the morning or late at night. In the darkness perhaps. In the bitter cold. Pushing ourselves further and further to be the best we can be. Establishing goals; trying to attain them. We dont always succeed. But its all a personal quest. No two runners have the same goals. We compete often against only ourselves. No one else. I have seen people I have met thorugh running actually run times that I consider incredible. And some of these people are not what you would call young. Plus 50 and many plus 60 years of age.

I have learned that age certainly can affect running. As we age, we slow down. Our bodies change. we need more rest. Lots of factors. But the interesting thing is that in running,we can still compete. We compete in an age group. And we compete against ourselves.

I have also learned that every run cannot be a personal record. Last year I ran two 1/2 marathons. One in Brooklyn where I ran the 1/2, which actually was my first half marathon, in 2:12:44; in September I ran the Liberty Waterfron Half, in Jersey City. I ran that half in 1:57:59; and today I ran the Manhattan Half. This is part of the continental Airlines series of half marathons. There is one 1/2 marathon in each borough. If at all possible I want to try to all of them. This was the first. I ran it in 2:00:25.

So my time wasnt better, it was worse then the last 1/2 marathon.Oh Well. Its early in the year. Track workouts havent begun. My training during the winter is not as intense. Lots of reason/excuses. But let's face it; I just didnt have it today to improve my PR. I was happy with the time. My pace was slightly over 9 minutes. what I am trying to say is that running punishes you when you dont pay enough attention to it; or if you dont feed it properly; or give it rest. Or cross train; etc etc etc.

So bottom line- I am happy with my time and with the run. Its always an accomplishment time to run and to compete and run in and finish a race.

WE cant set PRs everytime we run.