Exceeding my speed limit
June 6, 2006“Next year, my 800m PR will be old enough to drive,” says Parker Morse, reminiscing about a great race he ran in high school.
Although none of my PRs (personal records) are ready to take the wheel, I’ll admit that some are now wearing braces and hanging out at malls. Specifically, my lame 1500m PR of 4:12 dates back to 1995, my senior year of college, and my not-as-lame bests of 8:43 for 3000m and 15:06 for 5000m are from the 1994 indoor season.
In the next few weeks, I want to upgrade all three of these PRs, starting with a 1500m race in a little less than 24 hours. It isn’t a big disadvantage that my last race of this distance was eight years ago, since I didn’t know how to run a 1500 back then, either. “Go out in 66 and hang on” hardly qualifies as a race strategy, but it might be enough to get me a 4:10. The important part is to get rid of the 4:12 — I am not going to buy auto insurance for that sorry old thing.
My Track Record 
Good luck with the upgrading! I hope it goes well tonight!
Good Luck Greg. I like your thinking. I believe it is time for a little spring cleaning myself.
Sorry, James, I just changed the entry title (from "PR clearance sale — all times must go!" to "Exceeding my speed limit"), thus undercutting your continuation of the clean-out metaphor. I just thought my mixing of the "PRs as merchandise" and "PRs as adolescents" analogies was a bit much. You're a writer, so you understand, right?
Friends who drive are more fun than those who wear braces and hang out at the mall 😉
Is it true you went spikeless? That's got to be good for a few tenths at least 🙂