The Reminder
by Jack Grey
My mother was a pretty unique character in a number of ways. Just as this is true of most people who become advanced in years, over time, they develop their own particular way of doing things. They also lose most of their concern for what others think. That was true for my mother. She passed away a few years ago at the age of 92. Until she was about 90, she lived alone seven miles from even a small town and almost twenty miles from a reasonable grocery store. It was where she wanted to live, and no one was about to convince her to move anywhere else. In some ways she was fiercely independent and in other ways, she expected others to cater to her slightest whim. This was especially true of family. She thought nothing of expecting one of her daughters to drive that twenty miles one way to deliver a single item from the grocery store for which she felt a sudden need…and to do it on her lunch hour! Did I tell you that I was sometimes actually grateful that I was the one who lived far away? But she was my mother and I loved her beyond words to describe.
I don’t have many things that belonged to her but I do have a Mason jar ring, like those used in canning. It is old and rusty. It has a long loop attached to it made from broken pieces of shoestring tied together. It would have provoked your curiosity if you had seen it. It usually hung on the inside knob of her kitchen door but sometimes she wore it around her neck. It was her “reminder.” When you saw her wearing it, you knew there was something she didn't want to forget that day. I might have been a preacher she wanted to listen to on the radio or something special she wanted to catch on the morning news, since the radio stations in the area become the lifeline for people in remote areas and regularly review deaths, funerals and community activities. Hence the jar ring as a reminder. It is even amazing how our perception changes. There was a time when I would have been ashamed for you to know that it even belonged to my mother and espeially that she ever wore it around her neck. Yet now I treasure it as a prized possession. It has become my reminder of her uniqueness, and how I miss her even now.
The truth is we all need reminders. Post notes have become a big business. Magnetic signs for the fridge are in vogue. We get regular calls to remind us of commitments we have made or of when service men will arrive. You probably have developed some special ones of your own which are far more glamorous than what my mother used. Yet they serve basically the same purpose. This is also true in our running. Most of the greatest and most important principles of racing are not new. They are things we already know, but may be neglecting in practice. Will you review a few of them with me?
1. DON’T START OUT TOO FAST. We nave heard it so often. Yet it continues to be the number one fault in poor racing. When you do it, don’t think for a moment that you can make up for it easily by slowing down later. Somehow it just doesn’t work that way. If you get overextended early, it will cost you dearly later on.
2. DON’T REACT WHEN OTHERS PASS YOU. It is just natural to want to go with them, and especially so if they are near your age group. Just remember: Few races are won in the first half, but more than you can count are lost there. So, when others go by, let them go. Stick with your own plan. You will find that you will pass many of those in the second half that passed you in the first if you will maintain your pace.
3. KEEP IT REASONABLE. By this I mean stay with a pace you can hold for the distance of the race. You may have to remind yourself of this a dozen time on a given day, but it is terribly, terribly important. Press against the limits of what you can stand, but back off when you reach them. The ideal is still to run a negative split, i.e. with the second half slightly faster than the first.
4. ALWAYS TRY TO FINISH STRONG. Surprisingly, many slow down near the end of a race. Some do it yards from the finish line. When they are passed there, they almost always say, “I could have done better, if I had known they were coming.” Well, just visualize someone coming every time you are there. When you see that finish line you can always dig deep and find a little more. It will save you a lot of heartache if you will.
REMINDERS! Now you can add to the list. We all have them. We all need them. Now get out there and use what