Athlinks.com is every endurance athletes best friend and worst enemy. For those that are not aware of this facsinating site, it is a listing of all ones race results that they can gain access too. From my own experience they have about 75% or so of every race I have ever completed. All your race results are out there good or bad for everyone to see. But do these results really tell the whole story? What can you determine from strictly looking at finishing times?
http://athlinks.com/racer/results/88959192
In my opinion finishing times only tell half the story. Take my half marathon times for instance. I have run 6 half marathons, but only three of those have I run with the sole purpose of running my best time, the other three I ran in support of my wife Amy. I have completed 5 half Ironmans only 3 of which were posted by Athlinks. Of course my PR race of 4:59 is missing, but my tuneup race prior to Lake Placid in which I flatted 3 times is listed (6:41). So just by looking at these results you can never get the whole picture and I believe that is the beauty of racing.
It is not always about your fastest time. I can say without hesitation that the three half marathons I ran with my wife were my favorites. The tuneup half Iron I did in 6:41, well I had a pr for the swim and the run so at the end of the day I was ecstatic with the result. For me I have been blessed to be able to compete in the top 25% of a lot of the races I enter and have won some awards along the way. But at the end of the day all my medals from every race I have ever done are buried in a bag in my basement. Those medals do not tell the story that I wish to remember. Sure it's great to have that finishers medal around your neck and you can rest assured that I always wear mine for a few hours after the race. However once that race high wears off and the medal goes into the bag in the basement, the thing that lasts far longer are the good times had, the bad weather endured, all the flat tires, the cramps and the long, long days of running, biking and swimming to get to those finish lines.
So for me it is not always about fast. Fast is relative to each of us and no matter what your finishing time the fact that you did indeed finish is a far greater triumph. When I am old and gray I will be most proud of the list of races completed, not the finsihing times. I was never the fastest and probably will never win a race, however the best days of my life have been on a race course, competing against my peers or just running along side my best friends (wife and dog). So if you do get a chance to check out Athlinks, and I do recommend it, make sure you not only view the finishing times but that you also take a moment to remember the race.
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