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A couple hours ago I completed the Susan Komen Race For The Cure 10k run. It was a good tune-up race for the marathon coming up in two weeks as well as a good cause and a reminder that my mom is a cancer survivor! I ran in her honor today, and for that I feel good. On the path, however, there were a couple things bothering me. First was my achilles, which has been giving me pain all week, and I've been nursing it. I found, however, that it loosened up a bit, and I was confident to move faster through the race. It was chilly! It was in the sixties, but boy did it seem cold, especially compared to all the other training and competitive runs I've completed so far this season. My breathing was slightly affected, but I believe my muscles took a bit longer to warm up, too. The thing that bothered me above all, though, was being beaten by my boss. My manager, Drew, challenged me to this race less than two weeks ago, and he's also been talking a lot of mess. I've been beating him in the longer runs all season, including the Soldier Field 10-miler and two half marathons, and I was sure I'd pass and beat him to the finish. Now, the official chip times haven't been posted and I did start a bit behind, so I'm not sure exactly where we ended up. Nonetheless, I feel defeated and humbled by this outing, and I have learned a lot so far. "You learn more in losing than winning..." the voice of Jim Rone has been echoing in my head, and he is correct! I have been imbelishing in late-evening snacks of dried fruit and such and also haven't been as disciplined as in the past as far as consistent planning for training and eating, although I will make adjustments to help me in the next couple weeks. I'm still pretty lean, but I am 3-5 lbs heavier than I'd like to be for running purposes. I will make some adjustments, so this was a great tune-up race!

Evaluate your performance at work, in your family life, and in your health and fitness. I'm sure you have some areas that you feel you are "losing" at or may not be at your best. Step back and analyze what you are doing, and find ways to improve in areas, and you will surely improve. Planning is the key. Spend more time planning than actually executing, and your performance will improve tremendously. Please share an event where you feel you've "lost", and explain how you felt, what you learned, and where you went from there. Please share below in a comment so we can all learn with you! Have a great day everyone, and thanks for reading!