This past Saturday, I missed my morning race. It's an awful feeling. Almost as bad as missing a flight, which is an awful felling. And, it was 100% my fault that I missed the race. 

Life happens. Busy week at work. Rough day with the kids. Overall exhaustion. Sometimes all those factors neatly arrange and deliver a knock-out blow. And, that's what happened to me Saturday morning. The alarm clock ran after only a few hours of restless sleep. The thunder clouds were rolling by outside. Net result - I said not this morning. 

When I finally got up, I had effectively missed the race. The dread continued as I felt bad all day. Despite having very good (at least to me) reasons for not racing, I felt bad. I was trained and fit. But, sometimes life happens. 

So what to do in this situation? 

One option is to move on and focus on the next race. I think that's a perfectly reasonable option. Another option is look for another race that weekend. In my case, I found one, but it was a very small event geared towards fun 5K runners and walkers. 

I choose another option. 

At 10pm that evening, after handling the responsibilities of the day, I headed to the my local high school running track. I did my 2 mile warm-up. Then, toed the line in the darkness. Alone, I started my watch. 

I was done 3.1 miles later. It wasn't a PR, but it was a good effort - especially considering the darkness, solitude, and exhaustion from the daily grind. It was a hard, race-like effort.

More importantly, I did what I said I would for that day. 

See you at the Finish Line, 

-George