Tuesday, January 10, 2012

A Different Kind of PR

PR = Personal Record

When human beings give up the desire to set personal records is when our race will fail. This good-enough, halfway-there, whatever attitude can make ne'er-do-wells out of us if the attitude persists too long. Those who strive to achieve more at work are always conflicted by that minimal ner-do-well that gets by on doing as little as possible. It is a constant struggle to improve ourselves when we are surrounded by others who continue to do exactly the same damn thing they've been doing for years. "Why am I working so damned hard?"

However, being good-enough also can give us an occasional reprieve from the struggle to be perfect. Sometimes you have to give yourself permission to take it easy. Of course this should be a calculated decision. Please if you are a tax accountant, don't get lazy during tax season! (Thanks!)

This Sunday, I'm running the Arizona Rock N' Roll half marathon. At the beginning of November, I thought it would be a good idea to sign up for a January half, so I could stay in shape through December. This wasn't the greatest idea; I'm not doing too badly, but I am really in no condition to push myself in a half marathon. I had to give myself permission to get lazy this winter.

Not to worry though: I am using this opportunity to set a new PR for myself this weekend! This will personally be my most fun, most mentally challenging, and slowest run ever. Instead of beating my PR fastest, I will force myself to slow down and achieve my PR slowest. This will be difficult because I tend to get competitive with myself (and maybe that girl with a similar build running in front of me... *catch her, catch her*). But for this race the challenge will be, not to run faster, but to force myself to run slower and longer. In fact, I am hoping to complete the Arizona R&R in at least 2 hours and 10 minutes, if not more. I will walk if I want to. I will stop at every aid station. I will succeed and be proud!

Plenty more PRs to come this year!

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