Last Best Day

I wish I were clever enough to have dreamed up the title to this entry, but I am not.  All the credit goes to John "The Penguin" Bingham, my running hero.  In his latest book he has a chapter devoted to the "Last Best Day."  You never know when you are going to have your last best day.

Certainly, in one way the Indy Mini Marathon last weekend was not my last best day.  I did set a "personal record" (PR), but not in the usual way - it was my slowest Indy run yet (2:44:28 to be precise, but my slowest ever was last year's Sunburst at 2:46:28).

Chicago Marathon 2008

So lets review my blog from January 2.  I did not loose the 10 pounds, I did not routinely train (only an average of 2 runs per week, and only the weekends exceeded 2 miles at a time), I did not accomplish a finish time of 2:15.  The weather was hot and humid; the race was completed under a "yellow" caution flag and honestly should have been red. 

On the other hand, this year had some really good parts.  I lined up in the "cheap seats" having failed to make the cutoff for a seeded start.  There was a gal who was running her first half marathon - I encouraged her with the thought that she would only have one "first" and should really be intent on enjoying every step. 

Another person in the corral acknowledged my comment and we started chatting.  She had completed her last "chemo" treatment on Thursday and was lining up on Saturday.  She is in her mid-50s and we talked about our "race strategy."  We were both on the walk/run plan.  Her plan was to run 2 minutes and walk one; mine run 200 paces, walk the next 50.  During the first 11.5 miles I exceeded my plan - I ran 200 to 240 paces and walked between 50 and 70 each time.

After the 11 mile water stop, I was digging in my little bag of "run fuels" for a Leman mint (better than a sport bean in my book) when I heard another gal talking about being "under trained."  I commented that I thought running a 2-miler once a week with the longest long run at about 7 miles might qualify in that category.  We started talking and walking.

What fun!  It turned out she also is an engineer (in her mid-50s), lives in Indy but degrees from Michigan and Standford.  We walked and talked much of the remaining distance.  Who cared about the finish time - it was hot and we were "under trained."  It was a great day!

Maybe last weekend was my "last best day" because of the stories I heard and shared.  After all, I finished the race, I didn't cramp up, and I wasn't put on a gurney like several of the 250 runners who required medical assistance.  Older but slower - still a great day.

"Our last best day is lying in wait out there somewhere." -~ John
"The Penguin" Bingham