Every Fourth of July, the Cranford Jaycees host the Four-Mile Firecracker run, through Nomahegan Park and the surrounding thoroughfares. It draws a large (1200 this year) and competitive field, with many top college runners making it ones of their summer tune-ups.
I'm happy to say, I won the 50-54 age division this year in 25:36 (6:24 mile average). Up until the last mile, I was happy with my pace: 6:25 at the crowded first-mile mark; 12:28 at two, and
19:02 at three, when the race enters the final stretch through the park. I lost it a little mentally in the last mile. I knew I couldn't go sub-6:00, to break 25:00, and I "settled" into a little slower pace (and noticed I was losing my form) as a few people passed me between the three and three-and-a-half mile marks.
Once the finish came into sight, I restored my pride and got it back together, with no one else
out-kicking me over the last half-mile. Lucky I did, too, because the second-place finisher in my age group was only about three seconds in back of me.
I was happy to win and have my name called for the medal and nice technical T-shirt they gave away. I mentioned to my wife later, though, that I'm rarely totally satisfied with my race
effort, this one included. If I didn't "lose it" in the last mile, I probably would have knocked another 10 to 15 seconds off and not been passed by the first woman (and others) in the park.
The million dollar question: Is that quest for perfection the thing that drives me to achieve these minor victories? If you're content with your effort, can you push yourself as hard?
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