(To read Part 1, describing the race in detail, click here)

 

The ride back to Boston is rough. Four hours in the back seat is broken up with plenty of stops for leg stretching, walking, visiting the Ben and Jerry’s factory (we’re in Vermont, right??), and plenty of time for reflecting on the events of the past few hours, weeks, and months.

Looking back, I couldn’t be happier with the results of my season.

  1. – A World Record in the treadmill half marathon, even with very little training after the car accident.
  2. – Winning a 10k in 30’59 at 8000 ft (which the NCAA says is good for 29’03 at sea level)
  3. – 29th in Boston in a 2h21 debut
  4. – And then a victory and PR at VCM 5 weeks later.

 

It seems like more than I ever could have imagined back in December.

But then I think back to late January when I could barely walk to the bathroom without buckling over after getting hit by a car in Quito. I think of how incredibly frustrated I was. How I questioned whether I’d ever be healthy again, let alone be ready to race in a few weeks. I remember a very specific conversation with Mariana where I told her that I was having doubts about what I was doing – that the low of the bad patches couldn’t be made up by the high of the victories.

Well, as you may have expected, my opinion on that subject may have changed over the past few months. Just as in the race, the bad patches, the come-from-behind make the victory that much more triumphant and redemptive. Because while it’s exciting to be in the spotlight, to be at the front of such a great and talented field, the real triumph for me is the same one that Jon instilled in me as a 20-minute-5k runner in high school – the joy of being a little bit better today than I was yesterday, and last week, and last year.

For close to eight years, I’ve been chasing this idea of being just a bit better each season, and I think that’s what has gotten me through the rough patches. Sure, there are times – those low points – where I question it all and wonder if I should bother. But every time I’m able to come back and come back stronger than before, it reinforces the idea that I’m doing the right thing. As long as I can step back and see the long, long term progression, I know I’ll be able to make it through whatever highs and lows the future brings.