A PR...The Hard Way

The accidental PR where you're just doing a sesh, feeling great, and oila, you set a PR, is easy. The preconceived PR, the one that you stare at on your training schedule, the one that you know you have to do next week or in a couple of days, is much more tough. It weighs heavy on your mind, and you know that you have to go out and make it happen, regardless if your body is on...or worst, off. But it is this PR that most simulates racing, it's this PR that trains us to be "Game Day'ers", and aren't we training to race, and not training to train?

All week last week, I knew I had to go out and make a PR happen come 5:30 AM on Friday. I do this run loop in the morning and in prep for my upcoming half mary in April, I needed to inject some speed and run a season PR for the loop. For whatever reason, my head was in the right space that morning, and I remember rolling out the door, taking my first couple of steps in the dark, and I immediately knew, I was going to will this PR. I can't say every planned PR on the schedule I've ever had went this smoothly, but on this morning, it was copacetic! And just like that, I trained my mind and my body to race, and not just to train.

The Sunday post run, I got a pleasant surprise with an accidental PR whilst chasing my friend Tyler on our bikes. It was a sufferfest and I found myself losing his wheel several times, but he would slow down and let me reel him back in, only to punch the pace again once I got on. And though it felt like survival riding, I somehow landed home with an accidental PR.

All this PR stuff meant a reward in the form of some good eatin'. In this case, some grilled cauliflower with pasta and a non-dairy, low sugar chocolate bread pudding.