Outrunning the Stress
Just behind the starting line of a local race, I ran into an old acquaintance. Someone who, years ago, would easily have beaten me, but who, thanks to his "temporary running retirement" would probably finish behind me now. We exchanged a fist bump and chatted briefly about this and that. As always happens before a start, the conversation inevitably turned to estimated finish times.
Without naming a specific number, my former running buddy mentioned that he planned to take it easy today. He was joining the race mainly because it was close to home, but he wasn’t aiming to win. Something I'd like to believe, though right before a race you always have to keep in mind that some people downplay their goals only to end up taking the win anyway. A bit like that classmate who always insisted they hadn’t studied much for the test, only to come out with the highest grade of the class.
After the starting gun had fired and the first few hundred meters were ran, it became clear that he had indeed meant what he said about taking it easy. A kilometer in, I glanced behind me and couldn’t see him anymore. The stress of potentially being overtaken at the last minute started to fade. Time for me to turn down my speed a bit, to save enough energy for the final stretch of the race.
That worked. After running at a slightly more relaxed pace for about a kilometer, I had enough left in the tank to pick things up again in the final kilometers. Each kilometer was a bit faster than the last, and instead of falling apart, the final few hundred meters were actually the fastest of the entire race. Relaxation as a way to run faster.
When the pressure’s off, the best of me comes out. At least when it comes to running.