Bad Angel Rule #93

What’s your PRPR (Paul Ryan Personal Record)? http://www.paulryantimecalculator.com

Embrace Your Race Pace.

Recently, the Interwebs were a-buzz with Paul Ryan’s claim that he ran a sub-three-hour marathon. While many people in the real world do not know a respectable marathon time from an amazing marathon time, anyone who has slogged out the full 26.2 knows exactly how the numbers shake out.

And for this reason, it is pertinent that you never lie or exaggerate about your finish time. Generally, just finishing a marathon puts you in a category that most people cannot begin to dream about, so there’s no need to fabricate the truth.

Yes, sometimes you might feel pressure to puff up your finish times. To feel like you’re competing. To feel more competent. But really, what is that proving?

Sure, we all have race regrets. I haven’t finished a single race in my life where I wasn’t pondering how I could have gone faster, pushed harder and shaved off a few seconds. That’s one of the things that keeps us crazy runners coming back for more.

But there’s a bigger point here. One of the best and worst things about running is that, at the end of the day, the clock don’t lie. There’s no shootout, no bad referee screwing you over, no Russian judge messing with the scores. You either did, or you did not.

So come out with it, already. Embrace your finish times and don’t apologize for them. You put in the work, completed the miles and left the rest on the race course. For that, you should have pride. Period.  – Aidz