The Zen of Regression

Like oops. The Frozen Half Marathon didn't go nearly as well I had hoped. Last year I ran a 1:20:30 good for 10th place.

This year I came in 20th place and according to what source you use, I ran anywhere between a 1:22:00 and and a 1:23:45. No matter what, much slower than a year ago.

The way I can't figure out my time makes me feel like one of those people born in more agrarian times, who isn't exactly sure what year he was born.

So why the discrepancy? Well,that's all that interesting. But I will say this: I have to rely on three differing sources for my time because I never actually used a watch to time myself. I don't normally wear watches when I run, even when I race. In fact, the only races I do wear watches for are the half-marathon and the full marathon. It is probably no coincidence these are by far my two weakest distances as a runner. Maybe I need the watch as a security blanket in these distances where I'm less confident.

So to break the habit of using a watch, I never used mine for yesterday's half marathon. To borrow a quote from The Spirit of the Marathon movie, I am trying to be a "zen runner," which is a runner who doesn't get caught up in numbers like pace, time, or distance.

Am I a zen runner? I don't know. I do know it doesn't really bother me that I don't know my time. Well, I do know it was slower than last year's. I also know I placed twice as low. It would be very disingenuous of me to suggest that I'm not bothered by either one of these tidbits.

But overall, I feel okay about the race. I could tell by mile five it wasn't going to be my day. And I have a good idea of where I'm at fitness-wise. I don't have any goals for the Boston Marathon other than to have fun. When the summer racing season heats up, then my zen running will fade away and be replaced by a desire for fast times.



And in the meantime, look how cool this year's mug is. It features a ceramic spoon that fits into the handle. This is my third Frozen Half Marathon, and I like the collection of mugs I'm getting from it. I'm sure someone out there has the full collection from every year. But I'm too zen-like to get hung up on material posessions or collections like that. I'm joking of course.