So they say one of the key components to feeling bad about yourself is to always compare yourself to everyone else. I used to think that one of the key components to keep from ever becoming complacent in a sport where--unless you're the world champion, someone is ALWAYS going to be better than you--is to always compare yourself to everyone else. And even if you are the world champion it really just means that your preparation met good fortune that both met opportunity and that you put it all together and ran the best of anyone in the world in that event THAT DAY. That could change tomorrow yes? Anyway, one thing I have learned here is that there are a lot of hella good runners around. I mean, just the other day I passed Shalane Flanagan on the trail, she was preceded by Matt Tegankamp, I saw Fiona Docherty blazing down Marshall Road at ridiculously high land speeds, there are occasional Tera Moody sightings, Jenny Simpson sometimes joins us on the track on Fridays, and crap my boss won the world champs in the marathon in his hay-day, my other boss ran a 2:08 in his prime, my other boss in Colorado Springs is just plain boss but didn't do either of those things but while we're on the subject I might as well work him into here as well, and my coach is a 3-going-on-hopefully-4-time Olympian. Surrounded by all of this greatness, sometimes it's just like, "Gosh...I suck." I got all excited one day over doing quarters because I had been doing them in 73-77's lately, only to have have Lee say, "I want to see 69's today." I had myself a merry chuckle because I thought he was joking, and am in fact still unsure, as that would have been a substantial PR not once, not twice, nor thrice, nay, twelve times in a row! So I proceeded to run more 73-77's because I was still really proud that I uncovered some of my latent, uhhh, "speed," but in retrospect I think he might have been serious. Apparently what we had there was a failure to communicate. Oops.
Anyway, to keep from getting too down on myself, I just remember this video clip that Cody (my boss who's boss) showed me one day, and I think to myself, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and dog gone it, people like me! All I have to do is be the best Shannon I can be!" Who knew Saturday Night Live could be so applicable to life? Thank you Stuart Smalley!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuGf34F0f5g
This thought offers a few seconds of consolation as I get my ass kicked repeatedly. However, I think it is paying off as I did run what I consider to be my new PR in the mile at Pearl Street last week (my Sort Of PR was on a relay on an indoor track so I don't consider it official as it is not on paper. Pearl Street on the other hand does start semi-downhill, but I believe this is off-set by the subsequent semi-uphill and a couple of hard turns). I ran 5:12 at Pearl Street, however this was only good enough for 18th place as I was soundly trounced by several local studs as well as what appeared to be the entire running contingency of Japan. And that sort of brings me back to the main point of this post which is that while complancency must be avoided, keep percieved lack of success in perspective and use self-comparisons to others who are more successful as a standard to attain rather than simply as something that you are not. And just remember: You're good enough, you're smart enough, and dog gone it, people like you.
Start of the Pearl Street Mile (mascot division). I was pulling for the mattress.
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