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Dave Griffin On Running
The Carroll County Times – Sunday, November 22, 2009
I remember a May race many years ago. It was a day when a lot of good things were coming together for me. I was beginning to understand how the specifics of my training translated into race results and I was applying what I knew in workouts. And, on this particular day with clear air and cool temperatures, I had chosen a race with just the right competition.
I was pulled through the first mile on the shoulder of a faster runner, and as we entered a downhill stretch we were flying. I felt smooth; the long, hard intervals on the track were paying off.
When things go perfectly in a race, there is little conscience thought. Thinking invites doubt and forces you take an inventory of pain. It’s to be avoided. In its place is concentration, a firm focus on the task at hand. For me, in this race, my single focus was holding on, and it resulted in the fastest 5,000 meters I had ever run.
I should have been ecstatic. Celebration should have been in order, but there was a problem. I was running a 10,000 meter race.
In a lifetime, there are moments that change life’s course, whether subtly or with significance. For me, this was one of those moments. I could have decided that a 5K PR was enough, and that jogging in the rest of the way was fine. I didn’t do that.
The course turned onto a loop in a quiet park. There was no one there to watch us; it was only him and me, racing along the rolling road. I clung to his shoulder, refusing to let go and knowing, if I did, I would be left to watch him pull away.
I’m not sure I could describe the emotion I was feeling. It was almost like anger, but perhaps better described as intense determination.
We ran out of the park and began heading back towards the finish on the road we had come out on. Many runners had yet to enter the park, and they cheered as went passed them, but their voices sounded far away, muffled by the concentration.
The last couple of miles were all out. I was just holding on, so as he surged near the finish, he pulled away to win by a few strides, but I finished just behind him with a huge personal best.
We all have a comfort zone, a safe room we usually avoid leaving, afraid of what might happen if we do. With preparation, we can expand its walls, but even then, our greatest potential never resides there.
That race taught me that my comfort zone is as much a confinement as it is a safe haven. Leaving it that day made me realize that I’m capable of more than I believed. And that simple understanding has stayed with me, giving me confidence whenever I’ve needed it, at least a thousand times since.
Dave Griffin
Dave Griffin is the Times’ running writer. His column appears every other Sunday. Reach him at dpgflyingfeet@aol.com or join the Facebook group, Dave Griffin On Running.