02/13/2022
- Took 2nd place yesterday against some great competitors at the Trail Love 10K at Irvine Regional Park from . I was especially humbled and inspired (yet again) by 55 year old Fredrick Herr who took 1st place. He also took 1st back in October at the CDM 10 miler, so when I saw him at the starting line yesterday morning, I knew I was in for a real treat. It also occurred to me that I was about to get to test how much I’d progressed since. He outpaced me in that race in October by 1:14s a mile. He took 1st and I took 3rd that day. He didn’t remember me, nor would I expect him to, but I could never forget him. He’s the kind guy that pre race-day nightmares are made of. He really inspired me and reminded me that life is a marathon and not a sprint. He showed me that with enough intensity and consistency over time, that one could have a long competitive career in this amazing sport of trail racing. Much to my delight, we toed the starting line together yesterday morning. The gun went off and I got out in front of him to see what his pace felt like. I wanted to download that feeling to memory for later use. I led him to just shy of the 1st mile marker and once the adrenaline wore off (and my common sense came back to me) his experience kicked in and he started to drift away slowly, but surely. He outpaced me again, but this time by :12s a mile, instead of 1:14s per mile. I congratulated him and thanked him for pushing me to break my goal of 40 minutes. He did the same for me, and told me I helped him break his goal of 42. It reminded me of how much good can come from a healthy, yet determined approach to competition and how grateful I am to have rediscovered my competitive spirit in this beautiful sport of trail running. -