Tattoo two

I went back to see Moon to get a tattoo on my left arm. He is an amazing artist. If you are in Singapore and you want a tattoo you need to go see him. www.moonstrucktattoo.com

I wanted to balance myself out and I wanted to brand myself with the name of the woman I love so ...

I really like it. I think I like it more than the first one.

Christchurch Marathon 2012

On June 3rd I ran my third Christchurch Marathon. This is also the third different course I have run it on. The first year was downtown. Then there was an earthquake and it had to be moved to a small township outside of Christchurch. This year they moved it back to Christchurch and since the major sponsor is the airport it was run on the roads around the airport. This is the least favorite of the three courses for me because it had too many out and back sections. Hopefully one day it will be moved back into the city when the rebuilding is finished.

The first half of the race was sunny and was in the lower 50’s deg f. At times there was no wind and it bordered on warmish. I hit the half marathon in almost exactly two hours on my watch. Some of the miles were faster than four hour marathon pace and some slower but I was happy to hit the half in two hours. I knew that all I had to do was run a negative split to finish in less than four hours overall and at the time it felt doable.

The second half of the race was totally different. I felt strong but at about mile fifteen or so a storm blew in. It was nice that it cooled down but the wind went crazy. There was a point at around mile sixteen where the wind was so strong it stood me straight up and I felt like I was not moving at all. I probably could have walked as fast as I was running but I kept running. It was a little bit disheartening. To be fair there were a couple of times later on where I felt like I was being thrown down the road when the wind was at my back.

At about mile 18 I started passing people – a lot of people. Around mile twenty there was this guy who would almost sprint past me and then he would walk and I would pass him. This repeated itself about ten times until I dropped him around the twenty-four mile mark.

My last three miles were the fastest three miles of the race. 24th mile – 8:53, 25 mile – 8:48, 26th mile 8:45, last 0.2 – 8:42 pace. But I came up a bit short. I finished in 4:02:18 chip time (4:04:25 gun time). Given the conditions I am okay with that.  It is my fastest time in Christchurch so far. In fact I get about a minute faster each year. It is still about ten minutes off of my marathon PR.

I am encouraged that I was passing so many people at the end and I feel good about how strong I was running in the last miles. My last couple of marathons have been this way. I am considering another try at Singapore Marathon in December and I am sure it will be a different beast as far as finishing strong is concerned.

Andrea and I spent the two weeks after the marathon roaming around the South Island of New Zealand. I had a couple of really good runs on single track and lakesides in Queenstown, Te Anau, and Franz Josef. I am blessed to be able to run in such cool places.

The training is mostly done ... now it's time to run.

I have written this here before I think, but it is hard to gauge my fitness level while training for a marathon in Singapore. It is so humid and hot and there are hills. As I finish training for the 2012 edition of the Christchurch marathon I really do not know what to expect. I am confident I will finish it but I do not know how fast. I would love to break four hours because both of my other New Zealand marathons have been a bit over four.

Saturday I ran eight miles around MacRitchie. I wanted this last long run to be more than just a slow slog on flat ground so I tried to push myself. My goal was to run as close as I could to marathon pace but the hills and humidity made it almost impossible. I ran mile six 10 seconds per mile off of marathon pace as it is the only semi-flat mile on the MacRitchie trail. Based on that I think with a flat marathon course and a cold day I should be able to get close to breaking four.

The early weather forecast has Christchurch temperature at a low of 40 deg f and a high of 56 deg f and mostly sunny. Marathon weather for sure.

I have put in the training. All that is left is for me to get to Christchurch and execute. I will let you know how it goes.

Taper sickness

Night before last I had a dream that I was running the marathon in New Zealand. The weather was perfect and I was running well. That’s all I remember. I woke up and had a horrible run. I ran a mile and then turned around and walked home. I told Andrea I must have run too hard in my sleep.

Last night as I was going to sleep my throat had that feeling I get right before I get sick. I rolled over and reset the alarm clock to let me sleep in this morning.

I don't know why but this almost always happens during the taper. It is frustrating since I have been tanking up on vitamin C and trying to get enough sleep and rest and eat well. I feel much better this morning. In eleven days I am running a marathon and I do not want to get sick now!

Music moves me

This is a running blog - I know - but I love music and it is an integral part of my life and my running. Music moves me.

There is an interview that Chris Thile and Noam Pikelny of the Punch Brothers did with The Wall Street Journal on youtube here ---> link

They talk about the complexity of their music and how they find it challenging. I like listening to music that has intricacy but there are times that after a while I get to the point where I say to myself, “Yes it is incredibly impressive that you can play that but after a couple of listens it is getting really old. “

But music that has complexity and yet communicates something well and has a soul – that is the most satisfying kind of music.

To kind of paraphrase Chris Thile: “If you are going to make an appeal to the head you must also appeal to the heart and the gut. You want music that dances as well as it thinks. It must be visceral and communal.”

And that is why the Punch Brothers new album is so good. It speaks to my intellect and my emotion. Few bands can do that well but the ones who do are the ones I enjoy listening to most.

The music I listen to may be different from what you like, but today listen to some music that moves you.

Headlights - a useful accessory (& 22 miles)

This morning at 4:40 in the dark I ran down the park connector two and a half miles and then turned around and came back home. Along the way I have to cross six streets. On four of them there are no underpasses, overpasses or crosswalks. I just cross in the middle of the road.

As I approached Lower Delta I slowed a little as a taxi was coming from my right. After he passed I crossed the two lanes that head north and hit the median. I looked left and didn’t see anything coming. I took two steps into the road and a black car emerged from the shadows with his lights off. I turned hard to the right and headed back toward the median as the car swerved to miss me. I screamed at the top of my lungs “TURN YOUR HEADLIGHTS ON!” He drove off like he didn’t hear me although his window was down and there was no way the jerk did not get the message.

I don’t know what it is about people here in Singapore who like to drive in the dark with their lights off. Singapore is well lit and you can see where you are going without the lights on. But I cannot see you. And I don’t want to die. If you drive in the dark please turn your headlights on.

I ran 22 miles on Saturday. I got no gift of rain and it was hotter than Dante’s Inferno. The first half went great. At a little more than 7 miles I looked at my Garmin and I was running an 8:22 mile. That is way too fast as I only want to run around 4 hours at Christchurch. I paid for it in the last half. I was worn out and dehydrated and had to walk quite a bit. But I am done with the long stuff. I started tapering Sunday morning with an easy three miler.

Three weeks and then a marathon in the cold. Then two weeks traveling around the South Island with Andrea. I am excited!

“The first thirty minutes of my run is for my body, the second thirty minutes is for my soul.” - George Sheehan

Claypot Laksa – the best post long run fuel ever

This week was a cut back week so my long run was only 15 miles. Because the mileage was shorter I pushed it a bit and the run was over before I knew it.

After I got done with my run I showered and headed across the street to Alexandra Food Center for what has now become a post long run habit – claypot laksa. I first ate laksa right after we moved to Singapore. Jakeb ordered it and did not like it so we switched meals and I love it.

Laksa is a soup with a coconut based spicy curry sauce. It has noodles, fried tofu, fish cakes, shrimp, cockels (which remind me of the smoked oysters I ate as a kid even though they are small clams) and sometimes a boiled egg.

The claypot laksa from the Alexandra Food Center is the best I have ever had. I always have to stand in a long line (or que) because it is so popular. It is made in a claypot (obviously) and heated in the claypot over an open flame. The sauce is thick and rich. It is piping hot when you get it and spicy enough that it brings sweat to my forehead and tears to my eyes. I normally eat it with an ice cold Guiness or Beck’s beer.

My body is depleted from running and nutritionally I am not sure claypot laksa is good for me, but I can feel my muscles and weary body soaking in the spicy goodness. I am making myself hungry.

The claypot laksa stall is open at 9am. Laksa is a popular breakfast food. They only stay open until they run out of food. Often they are closed by early afternoon because laksa finished ready.

Next week is 22 miles and then comes the taper.

A Tale of Two Long Runs

On Saturday the 21st of April I ran a 19 mile long run. Andrea was in London and it was just Anna and me at home. The day before I tried to prepare as much as possible. I drank plenty of liquids. I ate a carbohydrate rich diet. Anna and I went to Chilli’s for dinner and I got chicken pasta with marinara. I went to bed early. I should have been totally ready for the long run.

But the next morning I woke up ate some cereal, drank water and coffee, stretched, filled my pockets with gu s-caps and a half of a pb&j, grabbed my water bottle and headed out. From the first step I knew it was not going to be a good day. My legs felt shaky and running was a labor. I ran up Tanglin Road and the small hill felt like hiking in Nepal. I ran through the Botanic Gardens and almost turned around and headed home because it was nasty. There was no way I was going to be able to run 16 more miles. I filled up my water bottle and took an s-cap and ran on towards MacRitchie.

When I got to MacRitchie I was feeling better but I was running slower than normal. As I got on the trails I got a gift – it started to rain. The water felt good as it rained really hard. I made it home but the whole way was a struggle. On top of that I realized when I got home that my sleeveless shirt had chaffed the insides of my arms. Nine days later my right arm still burns.

This Saturday (the 28th) I ran 20 miles. My preparation was much the same. Andrea made chicken for dinner with steamed rice and corn. That was really the only difference.

I got up early Saturday morning and prepared the same as the previous Saturday. I got out to run and from the first step I could tell it was going to be a good day. I ran the Park Connector, through Botanic Gardens, on to MacRitchie, out to Rifle Range Road and back. It was hot but I was running one to one and a half minutes per mile faster than last week. I was not walking as much. And then as I left MacRitchie to run the last five miles home on the road I got a gift – more rain. The lightning was a bit scary but the rain was welcome. I even felt better after the run this week than I did the last.

What was different? I wish I knew. I would make every long run like the one on April 28 and I would never have another long run like April 21 again. I think it may be because Andrea was home...

Telok Blangah forest walk in the dark without lights

I ran my 5 mile “Treetop” loop this morning. It is an elevated metal sidewalk grading that goes from Alexandra Road up a hill above the tree canopy to the top Telok Blangah Hill. There are normally lights that back light the path from underneath the grading. It is a cool effect because it lights the ground below but not the air above and it is kind of like flying while you’re running in the trees.

This morning for whatever reason the lights were off. At the beginning of the trail it was no big deal because I was at street level and could see pretty well. But there is a section where the path goes into the trees where there is canopy both above and below the trail. It was dark. In Singapore it is rare to find a truly dark place. There are lights everywhere. But as I ran into the covered area of the trail I could barely see the next couple of steps in front of me but I ran on anyway.

Like life. Sometimes it is dark and you can only see the next couple of steps. But what are you going to do? You can be paralyzed by the dark and stop. Or you can run on and hope no one has removed a piece of the grading in the sidewalk.

Staple it together and call it bad weather ...

In my last post I wrote about running in the rain and not seeing anybody out on a day that would have normally had the trails crowded if it would have been sunny. Today I ran across this quote on a running website.

"There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people." - Bill Bowerman

Was Bill right? Those who chose not to run in the rain will get the last laugh if I am ever struck by lightning.

A snake and an accidental 17.5

I ran five miles this morning on the park connector. The Alexandra Park Connector is basically a sidewalk that runs either beside the canal or over the canal when the canal is a big drainage pipe underground. I get on the park connector about a half a mile from the condo and I can run on it all the way to Marina Bay Sands. This morning I turned around at the 2.5 mile mark for five miles total.

As I ran on the section where the canal is underground I approached a mosque on my left. I was minding my own business listening to Band of Skulls and I caught a slight movement on the ground to the left of my feet.

I don’t normally curse (or as we say in Texas cuss). I think that people who resort to cussing in most of their sentences don’t have the vocabulary or creativity to express themselves very well. And besides when a person doesn’t normally cuss it means something when they do.

This is a family friendly blog so I won’t tell you what I said but it started with “holy” and ended with “it”. I am surprised I did not have an accident and get “it” all over me.

To my left was the largest snake I have ever seen outside of a cage. It was right beside the park connector. Not in the deep dark woods. It was where people are every morning. The snake was longer than I am tall and I am 6 feet 2 inches tall (or 188 cm for my non-American friends) and it was as big around as a baseball bat at its fattest point.

What in the world was he/she doing there? I made so much noise when I yelled that a woman in the mosque came to the window to see what was going on. My first reaction was to take off but then I had to stop and back track to make sure I had seen what I had seen. And sure enough a big snake was just lying by the sidewalk.

There are stray cats all over the place near the mosque. Maybe that was why the snake was there. They’d better watch out or they will become breakfast.

When I ran back by on my way home the snake was gone. A snake …. In the middle of Singapore!

I other news I accidentally ran 17.5 miles on Saturday. Actually I ran 16 miles on purpose but when my garmin hit 16 I was still 1.5 miles from home. So what are you gonna do? Run the 1.5 to pad the run log of course. It was a really good run. It rained hard on me as I left the house and rained for the whole run. I ran to MacRitchie and had the trail to myself. I passed two western guys going in the opposite direction from me. Asians apparently do not run in the rain. It was awesome and it made me miss running with Jakeb.

Hanoi Vietnam

This weekend we decided to get away from Singapore and see another place on our list of places to see before we leave Southeast Asia. On Friday Andrea, Anna and I boarded a plane in Singapore bound for Hanoi Vietnam. While we were there we walked around town, ate a lot of pho, shopped and took a trip to Ha Long Bay. All of it was really good.

Ha Long Bay was impressive but we have been spoiled by having been to Milford Sound so it didn't wow us like it would have had we been there first.

Now that I have been to Hanoi I am not sure I would go back a second time but I am glad we got to go on this trip. It is always good to spend uninterrupted time with Andrea and Anna no matter where we are. We played a lot of digital hangman and I dominated of course...

Before we left Singapore I got my long run in on Thursday so I would not have to run long in a strange place. I am glad I did. Hanoi is dusty and pollution is pretty bad and I would not want to run a couple of hours and breathe that stuff in big gasping breaths more than necessary. I have a Hanoi sore throat as it is. I did get to run twice.

Saturday morning I got up stretched and walked out on the streets at about 6:45am. Our hotel was on a very local street and right outside of the door a lady was cleaning and selling fish. There are women everywhere with a pot of steaming soup for sale on the sidewalk while their patrons sit on small stools about a foot off of the ground sipping from a plastic bowls full of hot liquid with various forms of vegetables, noodles and meat mixed in and drinking from clear cups of black or creamy coffee.

I weaved through the crowded sidewalks and jumped over sleeping dogs until I made it to the shores of Hoan Kiem Lake about half a mile from the hotel. The sidewalk around the lake was crowded with people walking and running and exercising. It was a little over a mile around the lake so I ran it four times to get five miles in. The second time around the lake there was a guy carrying a dog. The dog was trying to get out of his arms and was trashing wildly all over the place. To avoid a collision I side stepped into a hole and rolled my ankle. I was ticked off. I limped around for a little while and it started to feel better. I ran tentatively on it for a while and within a half a mile was able to run normally. Close call. I would hate to have marathon training ruined by a crazy dog and a poorly maintained sidewalk.

There was a man that showed up on my second lap around the lake. He had a black singlet with red trim and super short shorts that were black with a wide red lace waistband. He tiptoed in his walking shoes in the street off of the sidewalk where everyone would notice him and swung his hand in a very effeminate way by his side. All of the locals seemed to know him. He may have looked manly in normal street clothes but not so much in his exercise gear.

There were many people doing Tai Chi on the sidewalks. Some of it was very regimented like Tai Chi normally is but some of it was really free form with mostly older people swinging their hips with their arms in the air while others were doing something completely different to the twangy Asian music. I had to laugh.

I ran the same route on Monday morning before we flew home. The same people were at the lake doing the same exercises.

I was going to run Perth

I know I said I was running The Perth Marathon. I was definitely training for The Perth Marathon…

Then I got an email. It said:
Christchurch Airport Marathon
Sunday 03 June
Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k, Kids 3k Mara'Fun
ENTER HERE NOW !

Temptation got the best of me. I called Andrea and asked “Can we skip Perth and go to New Zealand?”

She said it didn’t matter. Then she said the point was for us to go see a new place so maybe we should go the Perth. We looked at pictures of Perth online.

And then I pulled up pictures of Queenstown and she wavered. She said, “wintertime in New Zealand. No kids. Good food and mulled wine in the evening – possibly by a fire. Familiar and comfortable… Okay we can go.”

So today I booked flights and signed me up for the marathon and Andrea for the 10k walk. Anna will be in Texas hanging out with our family and friends there so it will be just Andrea and me. We will run the race the second day we are there and then we will travel around the south island again for a little more than a week and a half.

This will be my third Christchurch Marathon in three years. I will have to step up my training a bit. It will be the third different course I will have run on in the three years I’ve done it so it will be like another new marathon with the same solid organization. It will also be the first time I have run it without Jakeb.

I think our kids are going to be mad when they find out.

I am excited now!

When in Rome

Andrea, Anna and I went to Italy last week. A couple of months back I got a sweet deal on airline tickets from Singapore so we nabbed them to go when it was Anna’s birthday. We saw Italy, ate really good food, drank good coffee and red wine, met new friends and celebrated Anna’s birthday.

I like to run when we travel so I can say that I ran in whatever country we happen to be in. I took my running shoes to Italy but almost didn’t get to use them. Every day was filled with things we wanted to do so in the morning I would wake up and get ready to go to the next thing on the itinerary rather than stretch and get ready to run.

The last day in Rome was an exception where we really didn’t have any plans. Anna wanted to sleep in a bit and Andrea and I were planning to go get some coffee and wander the streets so it gave me a chance to wake up early and put on running clothes and stretch and run the Roman streets.

We stayed in a very central location in Rome and were able to walk and see most of the sights. When I got out of the apartment I knew where I wanted to run. I stepped out of the door and ran west on Via Tomacelli. The weather was overcast and a bit chilly. I ran past coffee bars where people were standing and drinking their espressos and cappuccinos. I have never been to a place with such consistently good coffee.

I took a turn south on Via di Porta Angelica and could see the columns in the distance that line Saint Peter’s square. I ran between the columns and stepped into the square that is in the shadow of Saint Peter’s Basilica. I slowed to a walk and started in a long circle around one of the most holy places on the earth.

There are statues of Jesus and the disciples and various figures of importance to the history of the Catholic Church. Scores of priests and nuns filed across the square towards the basilica for morning mass. It was quiet and still and a moment I cannot capture in words.

After a while I turned my back on the square and started running towards the Tiber River. I ran past Castel Saint Angelo which is an imposing structure and crossed the river to head back towards our apartment. As I ran along the river I passed the only other runner I saw on the whole run heading in the opposite direction from me. Instead of stopping at the apartment I ran past towards the Spanish Steps. When I got there I ran to the top and stopped to look at Rome from the hill above. After a short pause I ran down the steps and back to the apartment.

It was a short run but totally worth it. When in Rome run … whether the Romans do or not.

New Things

New things can be good - not always but often. Here are a couple of new things I really like.

NB310: I bought these shoes while I was in Texas. I have never had any desire to run in minimalist shoes. I am a big guy - 190 pounds at my lightest and right now hovering around 200+. I assumed I could never run in shoes without a ton of cushion and a good solid heal.

When we went home to Texas in December I was supposed to have a new pair of trail shoes waiting for me at Tori’s house but due to shipping problems they were not there. I didn’t bring any running shoes with me because I wanted to save space so I had to make a trip to Sports Authority for a new pair. I didn’t want to spend a bunch of cash on shoes since I had a pair coming. I am cheap that way. I saw a pair of $50 New Balance MT310’s on the shelf. I would never have tried the shoes on in a million years. No heal to speak of and very little mid-sole compared to what I run in. But come on … $50.

I put them on my feet and they felt okay. I thought “I can run in these for a couple of days until my other shoes show up at Tori’s and then I will just wear them around”. Little did I know I would love them and now I do not run in anything else. I have yet to run in the shoes I was waiting for even though they showed up just before we came back to Singapore.

It took some time to get used to running in them because it changes my stride a bit. But so far it is working for me. The only problem is I cannot find them in Singapore. I will have to try to find a comparable model of Brooks. I have been a Brooks faithful for years so maybe they make something I will like. But for now I really like my New Balance MT310s!

Kent Ridge Park loop: I started running a new 5 mile loop a couple of weeks back. From my house I run past Hort Park with all of its botanical smelliness and start ascending Kent Ridge. The first 2 miles or so are really hilly. The ascent to Kent Ridge is on switchbacks and the final couple hundred meters is up steps.

It is not Colorado by any stretch of the imagination but if I run the Speights West Coaster as is the plan I will be running this and Mount Faber much more often. The course profile for that race looks pretty nasty. And running on hills will help.

The middle two miles are relatively flat under West Coast Highway. And the last mile rolls but after the previous four it is killer. I have to finish slow. I really like my new Kent Ridge Loop!

Punch Brothers – Are You Feeling Young Now: I dig the Punch Brothers. I know there are people who mourn the loss of Nickel Creek but if that band had to break up for Chris Thile to make this music with Punch Brothers then it is fine by me.

Are You Feeling Young Now came out yesterday. I downloaded it last night and ran with it playing in my head as I ran Kent Ridge this morning. The music has familiar instrumentation but defies genre. Movement and Location is the first song and I have had it for a couple of weeks - such a rhythmic song and great to run to. It just gets better from there. They cover Radiohead with Kid A. I wonder what Radiohead thinks of their music through a banjo, mandolin, acoustic guitar, violin and stand-up bass? It is all too good. I really like the new music from the Punch Brothers and I think the more I listen the more I will like it.

Week 1

So the tattoo healed very well and I started week one of marathon training last Monday (the 6th). It went great. I ran 32 miles this week with a “long run” of 8 miles around MacRitchie this Saturday morning. I felt relatively strong and my feet are holding up well. At least three of the runs have some hills on them and I felt strong on those runs.

The problem is that this morning my legs felt full of lead. It is my fault. I went from 20ish mile weeks to 32 without much of a build-up or rest. So tomorrow I am taking off and I will take my scheduled Thursday rest break and see how it goes from there. Saturday is 9 and I will run it around MacRitchie adding miles on rifle range road to get to the correct distance.

It feels good to be training again. I just don’t want to mess it up.

Realizing potential

You always hope for your kids to have a better life than you do - to accomplish what God has set out for them and to live well. I know that Tori, Jakeb, and Anna have the potential to live a very good life and Andrea and I pray for them to reach for their full potential.

In running Jakeb has already run faster and farther than me. Last weekend he ran a fifty mile race in 9:33:46. He had lots of help from his big sister. Read his report here -> link.

Time off and then marathon training

Running has been good. My foot feels better after what I think was probably the beginning of plantar fasciitis. I took time off when I got my tattoo so it would heal and it helped my foot as well. When I started back I eased in to running. Lately running has been one of those things I just do without too much thought. It feels good not just when I am done but during the primal act of placing one foot in front of the other.

Yesterday afternoon I went back to see Moon so he could finish my tattoo. I wanted it to extend inside my arm and as usual he did an amazing job. In the photo you can tell which part of the tattoo is new by how red it is. While it heals I will take a week or so off. Then it is time to start training for the Perth Marathon. It is not until June but I am going to do a long slow ramp up. My main goal is to run well. I will see how the training goes before I formulate any more specific goals.

2011 --> 2012

In 2011 I ran 1290.1 miles. If I would have known that is the number of miles I would finish with I would have found time to run 9.9 more but the end of the year kind of snuck up on me. 1300 is just another arbitrary number anyway, right?

In 2011 I started the year with a marathon PR at the Texas Marathon on January 1. I also ran another marathon in New Zealand and hiked in Nepal all with Jakeb.

In 2012 I hope to run in Italy. We are going there at the end of February. I plan to train for the Perth Marathon in June and then spend the week afterwards exploring some of the western part of Australia - just Andrea and me. If we are in Singapore long enough we may go visit the North Island of New Zealand and while we are there run the Speights West Coaster. It looks like fun and how cool would it be to have a tech shirt with the Speights logo on it?

Running has helped me. Running is good for my mental, spiritual, emotional and physical health. I know someday my body will not let me run. I hope it is not for a long long time. I am a runner.

What defines me?

Running has not been so great lately – as I have written here. But I know it will get better. I have not run since the Sunday morning I got my tattoo because in order for it to heal properly I am not supposed to sweat profusely. And when I run I sweat profusely.

The time off has been good. But I am about to go crazy. The day I stopped running I was pacing around the living room and Andrea asked me “Is this the way the next two weeks are going to be”?

I am probably going to start running again on Thursday morning and I am looking forward to it but I am anxious too. I want running to be good again. And I know it may not start out that way but eventually it will be. When I go through a hard time running (and in life) that hard time consumes me and in my mind defines me. I think in my mind that I am done. I am not a good runner and will never be again.

I’ve got to push that stuff back because even though I am going through a rough patch, that rough patch does not define the whole of my running. I will run again – maybe not the fastest or longest I have ever run but I will enjoy it. And I will become a better runner.

I am near the end of reading Running the Edge. Today I read this from Adam Goucher:

…ultimate success is not measured in a single victory or setback. Our running and life stories are bodies of work. I might win or lose this race just as I might say the exact right or exact wrong words to my wife. I might make a wise career move or a big mistake, just as I might strongly support a friend or do the wrong thing and let him down. These isolated instances are not what ultimately define us in any life story. It is the commitment to do the little things each day to get better. It is the bigger picture in our mosaic identities more than any single piece.

Catalano, Tim; Tim Catalano; Adam Goucher; Billy Mills (2011-09-01). Running the Edge (Kindle Locations 3235-3239). Maven Publishing. Kindle Edition.