Somtimes a bad day goes good

Hello Runners!

Tomorrow is a pretty big day for Clarksville runners. Quite a few of my friends are lacing up their shoes and hitting the road. I'm nervous for them, but not as nervous as some of them are.

This little blog is about a couple of my best races, and some bad days. Hopefully it will help my some of you relax when things seem like they might be shitty. My best 10k ever was at the Alabama Relays. Two of my teammates and I drove down with our coach during our spring break. The week before we left my workouts were terrible. I slept on the floor of a freezing cold house (no electricity in the house we hadn't officially moved into yet...). I had to make about five bathroom stops during my warmup. Then, I ran a huge PR. All the pressure of wanting to run fast was gone, and I just ran. I stood in the pool at the hotel and felt joy. I called my parents (they are, after all, my biggest fans).

Tom King 2008 was another one of those days. I barely slept the night before (personal life drama too silly to be repeated here). The morning brought thunderstorms and chilly temperatures. I was already writing my excuses. I warmed up thinking about how terrible the day was going to be. Then I put on my racing flats... Every negative thought was gone, replaced by "man these flats feel good". I walked to the starting line, getting more confident. By the time the race started I was thinking about winning. As I passed the rest of the field after the turn around, I felt a surge of emotion. Not happy, or sad, just emotion. I had to reign myself in. It was unreal. I ended up winning that day. The biggest win of my "career". I may never have a win that big again.

The point of all of this rambling is that bad days can be good before you reach the finish line. Just plant one positive seed. Just run.

Keep it up!

Devin