Good Enough is the Enemy of Excellence

It is such a motivational cliche and one that I generally don't put much stock in - if anything, I think in most efforts striving for the best often gets in the way off accomplishing the good. But when it comes to running, it certainly seems that good enough is my worst enemy.

I was pleased with my time for the Maritime Days 5K. Very pleased.

But what do I do with that contentment?

I slack off, of course!

I almost wish I'd posted a lousy time, if only because that would have been a wake-up call to snap me out of my "when I feel like it" approach to running. But a good time only serves to reinforce the "good enough" mentality.

Intellectually, I know I need to train more often. Not just to improve my times but also to improve my endurance - we are building up to a longer race, after all! - and to really cement the habit of running regularly.

But still I find myself making excuses.

It has been a long day. Every day is right now, with football practice starting at the crack of dawn for my oldest. But long is not the same as hard or tiring, and getting up with the sun means I have plenty of time to go for a run before the other kids even roll out of bed.

It is hot/cold/raining. Probably my worst cop-out, because we've had an absolutely lovely summer. Maybe a bit on the cool side, but for running cool is better than hot anyway.

I just don't feel like it. Well, at least that one is honest. We're in the middle of yet another stressful financial/career transition on top of a busier-than-usual summer, and my motivation and focus are just about shot. But exercise inevitably improves my mood and lowers my stress level.

I did go out for a run today, only my second in the two weeks since our last race. It was a perfect morning for it, not too warm, not a cloud in the sky, and very quiet in our little town that early on a Saturday morning.

As I ran, I found myself thinking about my stumbling blocks. 

The one that seems to really be dragging at me right now is money... My husband is quite unexpectedly back in business for himself, thanks to two layoffs in a row and a lack of solid full-time opportunities around here, so money is tight. Tight enough that I've had to pass on our second planned race for this month because I couldn't responsibly spend the $60 to register for it in the midst of all the back-to-school expenses and as we adapt to an unsteady cash flow once again. 

To make matters worse, our RunDisney dream is on hold indefinitely. With no ability to forecast our income, I didn't feel like I could register for either of the races we were interested in and they've both sold out now so even if the job situation improves there's no making it happen before my annual pass expires. 

I think the disappointment of having the "carrot" that started this journey so completely out of reach at the moment is messing with my head more than any other single factor. 

But my daughter doesn't seem to care - she's found other races she's far more interested in than anything RunDisney has to offer. She wants to do a color run, a glow run, a zombie run. She wants us to walk the Mackinac Bridge next year on my birthday. And she's making noise about the scariest run I can think of - the Detroit International Half-Marathon, which crosses into Canada through the tunnel under the Detroit river... A tunnel I don't even like to drive! Fortunately I have four years to prep for that one because she's not old enough just yet. 

Her interest in running has taken on a life of its own. She's even challenged my husband to start getting out there with us. 

So I have to find myself a new carrot and run on. 

Race Recap: Maritime Days 5K

As promised, I'm back with a full wrap up of my second 5K of the summer.

This one was a no brainer for my daughter and I. Most of the events she's interested in have us driving into suburbia, but this one was just down the street.

Our town holds an annual summer festival, Maritime Days, in early August. Last year, the event organizers decided to add a 5K to the event with the proceeds supporting the planning for the next year's festival. 

Fun at the festival

The race organizers were new to the event this year, and they did a great job. Everything was very well organized, from the registration through Active.com to the post-race refreshments. 

We chose to take advantage of early packet pickup on Thursday night at the local coffee house rather than get to the starting line early on race day. This was a very nice perk for those of us who live in town, because with the carnival and other festival entertainment it was a busy weekend for many of us.

We got to the starting line with about 3 minutes to spare. I'm not a morning person at the best of times, and the day after the town fireworks display is not the best of times. Fortunately, we already had our bibs and shoe tags on so we were ready to go. Again I have to say how much I loved the early packet pick-up!

The start was well organized. The turnout wasn't as large as for our earlier race, but that's to be expected - the manatee run is in its 11th year in a major suburban area, and this run is only in its second year in a small rural town. The mayor said a few words, followed by the race organizers, and then we were off.

Because this is a very small town, the race was run mainly on open residential streets. The one exception is our main street, which runs along the riverfront; this is closed for the whole festival weekend. So while there isn't much traffic so early on a Saturday morning there were a couple of occasions where runners had to wait for cars to pass or vice versa. The route did run a little longer than a true 5K, though; according to the pre-race announcements it was approximately 3.4 miles rather than 3.1.

Freighter on the river

The best part of the course was the run along the river, and the organizers certainly must have known this because we traveled that part of the route twice. The rest looped through residential streets lined with old Victorian homes, nice scenery for running with lots of lovely shade.

Speaking of shade, the weather was perfect - sunny with just a few puffy clouds, but not quite 70° for the 8am start. I worried about August races because even up here in Michigan August can be brutally hot and humid, but this was wonderful. I hope we have the same luck with the other race we have planned for this month!

Back to the race...

There was one water station in front of my girls' school/church, at the turn-around point that we passed through twice, once at about 1.2 miles and the second time around 2.4. I thought that was exceptionally well planned, to require only one set of volunteers to staff the station but still provide runners two well-spaced stations.

Our Lady on the River Church

After the race, runners were directed to a table with refreshments provided by a local grocery - bananas, water, and some chia-seed sports drink that my daughter warned me was "gross" so I didn't even try it. Water is really the only thing I want after a run anyway.

At the end of the race, the organizers posted times for the quicker finishers. When we left, results and splits were posted for everyone who finished in under 40 minutes. We didn't stick around long enough to see my results - I crossed the finish line right around the 48 minute mark - and the full results haven't yet been uploaded to the race page so I haven't seen my official time. I couldn't be happier with my unofficial time, though!

My daughter doesn't remember her time but thinks it was around 37 minutes, which breaks down to the same 10 minute per mile pace that she posted back in May. She was a little disappointed with that, but between all her activit

All in all it was a really fun race, but I'm not sure we'll do it next year for reasons entirely unrelated to the race itself. The whole reason we didn't stick around to see the splits or chat with friends who also ran was because I had to leave home to pick my son up from band camp. The race started at 8, and I had to be on the road by 9:20 to get up to the college where they hold camp by noon.

Band camp finale

So unless the dates line up differently next year, I won't be running the race again. Between the 5K, the 2.5 hour drive up to camp, an hour long presentation/show for parents, a couple hours of swimming and picnicking at a state park, and 2.5 hours' drive back home, it was just too long a day!

One Quick Post

I am literally on my way out the door, but had to post a quick brag.

My town's 5K was this morning. Official results haven't posted yet, but MapMyRun is showing a total course length of 3.42 miles and a time of 48:15... For a per-mile split of 14:07.

That's right. 14:07!

A full minute per mile faster than the last 5K I ran back in June!

And that's with almost no training, just walking the dog and getting around on foot/bike like I always do during the summer.

Just imagine what I could do once I'm back on the training wagon.

Now, for 3 hours in the car to pick my son up from band camp...

I'll post a full race recap later.