Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post
Good job TrekDianna! In my book it's still racing if you're racing against the clock. And you ARE competing against other people too, if your goal is not to come last! C'mon, if the only people who entered races were the ones with a shot at the overall win, there'd be ten people in each race and they'd call it the Olympics. If you're lining up with the intention of running harder than you would or even could in a solo training run, then AFAIC you have every right to race and call it racing.

That's just me, who will never have a shot at an overall win of anything unless I'm the only one who shows up. But even elite runners have goal races, and then races that they compete in as tune-ups for their goal races.

I'm doing a 5-miler tomorrow. Never done that distance before. It's the 40th running of this race and it claims to be the oldest continuous foot race in the area. Should be fun. And if it pours down rain, that helps with the law of averages when it comes time for my next long race, right?
Well, ok but I think it's fun to beat my own time. I did get a compliment from an older gentleman who was running near me most of the course. He commented when we were done that he tried to pace himself with me, but I ran faster uphill and that it pushed him to do so also.

I was impressed that there was a woman in her 80s and it was her first 5k.

I love running in the rain and I prefer the trails to the road.

Good luck with your 5 miler. I am interested to hear how it was. I signed up for an 8k at the end of next month.