The End of Mediocrity

Mediocre: of only moderate quality; not very good.

synonyms: ordinary, average, middling, middle-of-the-road, uninspired,undistinguished, indifferent, unexceptional, unexciting, unremarkable, run-of-the-mill, pedestrian, prosaic, lackluster, forgettable, amateur,amateurish

I had a good start to this year. I set a personal record at the 50-mile trail distance in January (in an unsupported, 50-mile run that started at midnight in 15 degree weather on a very dark and cold trail). I followed that up with my personal best 100-mile trail race in April. Two PRs in 4 months! Unfortunately, the rest of the year has been rather mediocre. I took some time to recover from the 100 miler, then raced the August Howl at the Moon 8-Hour, September Evergreen Lake 32-Miler, and October Farmdale 30-Miler. All went poorly. I was under-trained, unfocused, and mentally absent. After three successive poor performances, I'm now tired of being mediocre. I want to run my last ultra of the year, McNotAgain 30-Miler, really well. I want to be proud of my effort and feel good heading into winter training.

It's time to end the mediocrity!

This evening, I saw Jennifer Pharr Davis talk about her record-setting Appalachian Trail thru hike. She finished the 2185+ mile trail in 46 days (averaging 47 miles per day). That's faster than any other hiker or runner, male or female, ever. Pretty impressive. Definitely not mediocre. It took dedication and commitment. If she can train for and finish the AT (three times), then I can train for and race a simple 30-mile trail race. Heck, my little races even provide aid stations! No excuses. It's time to step up and end my series of crappy races. Those were good training runs and they each taught me a lesson...mostly that I don't train enough. Time to train!