Why we race?

So a few weeks back I had a post about Why we do what we do and today's post is kinda an extension of that but more so focusing on why we race.

"A lot of people run a race to see who is the fastest.  I run to see who has the most guts" Pre

Those that don't know who Pre is should get The Runner's Rule Book and read rule 1.10.  If you look at it, the truth in it is undeniable.  I've fallen into the same trap before, to see how fast one can go I mean that is the idea behind a race right?  Well things like 100m sprints ya it becomes very easily who is the fastest.  When you move into longer events such as something like 5k, 10k, half marathon, full marathon, ultra or an ironman.  They all hold some kind of allure and hold this air of awesome about them.  As you start doing longer distances the shorter ones really do become a race of who is the fastest.

But when you're just starting out just signing up to do a race in itself is a huge step.  Running it is the second step.  The fact that you're willing to drag yourself up at a relatively unreasonable time of day (read 4 for my marathon because of loading up for the marathon) and go out and pound the pavement for breakfast.  After each new milestone you feel like you've accomplished something more and then items become insignificant in relation.

Convincing yourself that you're going to do a half or full marathon takes a certain amount of gut.  If you have run one, congrats you're in the 99th percentile.  Less then 1% of the world will ever run a marathon. Realistically very few of us will go on to actually fight for crossing and breaking that tape first, but what we will fight is inner battles everyday.  Searching for that elusive PR and then taking it and smashing it into tons of tiny pieces.

We race because it's having that feeling of accomplishment be it a new super long ridiculous distance you didn't think was possible before.  Or be it blitzing a time and shaving multiple minutes off your last PR.  We race because the story and battle is not with the people around you but with yourself.

So for those that have fitness goals, in the spirit of January fitness resolutions week, find a race sign up for it.  That dangled carrot is a huge motivation.  Then con a friend into doing it with you. Now you go train. That's how I ran my marathon, just without a friend because she bailed.  But now she's doing it this year and she's even writing about it with me.

So with that, today's post is dedicated to Steve Prefontaine, who unfortunately died in a car accident, but sported possibly the most awesome mustache while running.