Running.

The other day I googled myself (as you do), and found that a lot of my results are times from races. This was rather cool...I can't remember all the races I've been in and certainly don't remember much about the times, unless I did really well (Santa Cruz 10K, I'm looking at you).

I am gearing up for my next 1/2 marathon, and really hoping to bring my time down from the last one. I feel like I have stagnated around the same time throughout my running days...however, finding these results, I can see there's been a definite improvement! And this has me totally inspired as I continue my training (ok, yeah, so I use training loosely).

The race where this is most evident is the Presidio10. I've participated in this race 4 times, with a 5th coming up this year, and loved it every time. Evidently, I've also improved my time!
2008 - 1:15.41
2009 - 1:08.56
2010 - 1:09.56 (the exception...I had arrived home from Costa Rica at about 1am that morning then ran...)
2011 - 59.51

Running is a solitary sport that, for someone like me, lacks the instant gratification of a team sport. I am never going to win first place, never break the ticker tape...so really my only gauge is how I do against my friends in the moment, and against the clocks of other races. So seeing these side by side is really a validation, for me, that whatever I am doing works.

Does this mean I'll do better in my upcoming 1/2? I have no idea...my friend Mark, who ran with me in Healdsburg, signed up to run with me again...he's a lot faster than me so hopefully that will push me like it did in October.