One of my favorite personal challenges has been the Birthday Mile challenge. The goal is to run under 4:30 on my actual birthday, although I have the remaining days in my birth month to get it in if it doesn’t happen on my actual birthday. I’ve managed to hit my goal every year but one. Preparing for the Mile each year keeps me honest with my training.
I’ve also taken part in some of the virtual challenges that folks have been doing around the country. Lucas, one of our first Renegade Crew members, signed us up for the Run Free Grand Prix, and I’ve been loving it. It’s a way for runners to create their own “team” and have everybody “race” the same distance on the same days, from all over the country. I wouldn’t do these kids of workouts if it wasn’t for a challenge like the Run Free Grand Prix, and I’m very thankful to the folks who have organized the event. I even got my old training buddies Peter Gilmore and Collin Jarvis to join our team and we’ve been having fun with it while supporting each other.
Hopefully, the drive to complete these personal challenges, and especially for the ones we can share with others, will stick after we all get back to our normal hustle and bustle, even though most things might never be the way they were before this pandemic. Things are always changing and we are always changing because that’s the natural order of this world. One of my college professors, Harry Edwards, quoted the Greek philosopher Heraclitus on the first day of lecture - “The only thing constant in life is change.” This always pops into my thoughts in times like these.
