It's true that in running, you are really only competing with yourself. Sure, you'd like to come in ahead of the others in your age group, but...ultimately you are competing against your own PR (personal record) at that distance.

Being that the Turkey Trot is next Thursday, I decided to look up my time from last year because I knew I did well. I was shocked to see I ran a 7:36 per mile pace. Who lit the fire under my ass?

No way can I do that this year. The best I can hope for is probably a 7:45 pace after several months of long distance races.

What was I thinking setting the bar that high anyway?

Did you know that the results from past ERC races (and others) are all available online at www.erie-runnersclub.org? Just click on "results" in the menu bar and you can see several years' worth of results.

But, don't blame me if you realize there's no way you can kick your own ass.