I recently set a new personal best in the half marathon.  The difference in this race compared to my previous best was that I really hammered the last mile and a half.  In fact, at mile eleven I was 15 seconds slower than my old PB.

After the race I was ecstatic.  Why wouldn’t I be happy?  I just set a new PB by running 25 seconds faster in tougher conditions.  I was particularly proud of how I finished the race, pushing hard and “emptying the tank.”  

A day or two later I began contemplating whether I had emptied the tank or was there more left.  Could I have begun pushing harder earlier in the race or would I have crashed and burned?  If I could have pushed earlier, how much earlier?  How much faster?  If I couldn’t push earlier, could I have pushed even harder in that last stretch of the race?

I often ponder these questions and wonder how far and hard we can push ourselves.  I believe our body can go harder and longer than our mind allows.  The question becomes…how much pain are you willing to endure to find out?  

Now when I race, I look forward to the point in the race when your body says, “Buddy, slow down, this is starting to get real comfortable.”  Will I succumb to my mind or push through?  A good race for me isn’t necessarily whether I set a PB (although that definitely helps) but how I responded when I was hurting.

To learn more about this subject I would recommend the book “Endure” by Alex Hutchinson and any content from David Goggins.