Another race, another race recap. This year was another first for me, The Goodlettsville Classic 4 Mile Run. Even though I used to work in the Goodlettsville area for a year, I had never been to Moss Wright Park. Of course in those days, I was about 50 lbs. heavier and the only place I ran was to the Krispy Kreme when the hot, fresh doughnuts sign turned on. In any case, I was back in Goodlettsville for this odd distance race. By now, you all know the story. My training to-date has been less than stellar. My mileage has been short, but I thought the combination of speed work, hill work and weights would help carry me through. Since this was a Nashville Strider race, I assumed that the field would be large and competitive. Although it was competitive, it was a pretty small field.
The race course itself was relatively flat and beautiful. It was a mix of paved and tight gravel paths. Fortunately my trail running made those transitions from gravel to pavement easy to manage. Ultimately, I finished 27th overall out of 169. This won me a 2nd place award in my age group with a time of 28:48, 7:12/mi. Was this worthy of a top 3 finish? Apparently, but in hindsight, I probably could have tried harder. In hindsight, I probably should have tried harder, and it makes me mad at myself that I did not. Yes, it's nice to win awards and accolades, but if I get them for putting out a second best effort, is it worth as much? Maybe, but I still won't feel good about it. It was a good race with a nice course that deserved more effort from me, whether or not my level of training was up to snuff. Next year, I might race it again, but if I do, I will do it right.
