Twenty years ago I worked with a guy named Dave who had a great work ethic and a wry sense of humor. Whenever he would catch someone being half-hearted in their work, Dave would say, "My dad always said, 'If you work a little faster, you'll get done a little sooner...' "
Even though Dave would sometimes push too hard, or for the wrong reasons, that quote always stuck with me, and I remember Dave's smirk as he would say it...
So yesterday, when I ran my first half-marathon of the season, that quote kept coming back to me. I trained hard this spring, and really stepped everything up: running hills, working my time down, staying consistent in my mileage. I really felt I could do better than last year, and at least beat my previous time.
Then the unexpected happened at the race (the Garden Spot Village Marathon (and Half-Marathon) www.gardenspotvillagemarathon.org). What could have been a beautiful spring day with breezy temps in the 50's turned out to be 34 degrees and heavy snow. No kidding.
But I was undaunted by the weather. My gut told me I could still PR (that is, set a personal record) in spite of heavy snow, slushy roads and wintry cold. I was determined to run a little faster, and get done a little sooner.
I think there is a great lesson in that edge of determination, however slight or easy to dismiss. Digging into the task at hand and pushing to get done a little sooner can make a huge difference in the end. Do you have a worthy goal in front of you that you could push into a bit more? Cutting out the diet sodas and sticking to seltzer, eventually? Losing those 15 pounds, someday? Getting your 10,000 steps a day, when you get to it?
Make a commitment today to go a little faster. Prepare. Be smart about it. Be determined to do better than you have in the past, no matter what the circumstances. Then see what happens. There's a good chance you'll get to your goal a little sooner.
By the Way
I sort of crushed it yesterday. I surprisingly cut over 6 minutes off of my half-marathon time from last year on the same course. Last year was 55 degrees and windy, which to me was no match for 34, slushy and snowing hard. I'm appropriately sore and blistered, but feel like I really pushed through the hills well, which is what I trained for. I ended with a 2:14:03, which for a middle-aged, casual runner like me isn't so bad.
