Races and stuff.

[El Gordo]

I´ve just read the interesting George Sheenan article although I didn´t necessarily identify with anything he said. Running for me is more of a habit and a part of my lifestyle than anything focussed on particular races or events (enjoyable though they are). Can’t understand why George was so upset for not having suffered enough. Shouldn´t it have been the other way around?
Was much more impressed by the fact that the guy had 12 kids. How the f*** did he have any time for running.

Sheehan was a firm believer in "doing the best you can", and the article explains why he was upset -- he thought he could have done better. He was a highly competitive runner, and held the world mile record for his age group for some time. It goes without saying that I'm not that type of runner either, but I do find his attitude humbling and inspiring. That bloke who used to post on here -- what was his name now? Can't remember, but he was very big on this sort of attitude. (Ah yes "MLCM")

I don't think it's quite a straight choice between being 'event-focused' and 'lifestyle'. It's both for me, or at least I want it to be. I try to make running a part of my lifestyle but I'm capricious enough to let it drift now and then. I've learnt that I'm best able to keep it there by having an event as a target, and to keep my excitement levels high. It gives my running a structure, and helps keep me motivated when I might be tempted to not bother.

"We are all an experiment of one"

By the way, I was thinking about what I said the other day, and have realised I was wrong. I think it's just that you guys tend to post race reports far more than bog-standard day-to-day runs. As a result, it somehow seems that you're forever running these amazing races without doing any training! Silly of course.