THIS STANDING AROUND BIT IS TOUGH, MAN.

The Ann Arbor Marathon was last Sunday. Sounds like a natural for me to be in it, right? But it was too close to my next race. So instead, I biked downtown to join some of my PR Fitness friends in cheering on the runners.

I only felt a little guilty.

Rest is important. Rest is vital to improvement. Rest is underrated. All runners know this, or at least we’ve heard it plenty of times, and even repeated it amongst ourselves. But how much of this wisdom is actually internalized is up for debate. Consider, for example, a conversation that might happen at a Saturday morning group run:

Fellow runner: “So, Jeff, how far are you going today?”
Me: “Oh, just a quick eight today. Resting up. Race next weekend and all.”
Fellow runner: “Smart choice. Rest is important. Good luck at your race.”

Now, the same conversation as translated by my ego:

Fellow runner: “So, Jeff, how far are you going today?” Please ask me back, so I can tell you about my upcoming double Ironman.
Me: “Oh, just a quick eight today…” Boy, that sounds lame. Bet he thinks I’m a world-class wimp.
Fellow runner: “Smart choice. Rest is important…” I shall smirk inwardly at your wimpiness during my 20-mile warmup.

Now this is NOT how runners think. We all train at our own level, for our own goals, and support each other in accomplishing them. But that didn’t stop my competitive nature from whispering why aren’t you out there in my ear Sunday morning.

It didn’t help that it was cold enough (25 degrees) that I’d have been far more comfortable running. And that later in church several people asked me what distance I’d done. (Well, that was my fault for not changing out of my bike gear and 2012 marathon shirt.)

But there was a bright side. As the temperature neared 60 in the afternoon, I got back on the bike for another 14 miles. I’ve been itching for weeks to get back to cycling, and that ride was just the scratch I needed. Looking forward to more!

Next up: the Martian Invasion of Races in Dearborn, where I will do the half marathon, and the Trail Marathon Weekend at the end of April. It’s the logical (and smart) choice to get in some rest while I can. I’ll do my best.