What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?

I've had plenty of misfortunes and mistakes, but will never any regrets.

I meant to say "...will never *have* any regrets." Don't arrest me grammar police!

txRUNNERboy wrote:

I woulda put it in her butt

I'm still laughing from that one...

I'd have got a pre nup done.

And should never have started Wings.

i would have pulled out...or bagged it.

I would of let Alou catch the foul ball.

1). I wouldn't have been such a slack-ass loser in high school. I would have tried harder in classes, been nicer to people, tried a little harder to get the girls, put more effort into football instead of riding the pine because I had no idea what was going on, etc.

2). I would have run XC and done middle distance instead of being a hurdler/jumper/sprinter. Looking back I can see that I was built more for middle-distance. I was a decent in the jumps and sprints, but I think I could have been better than decent in distance if I had started in 9th grade instead of starting at the age of 22.

3). I wouldn't have dated that needy chick in college who pretty much ruined my sophomore year.

4). I would have taken time to let my hamstring heal after I injured it the first time my senior year of high school. I was pretty much screwed after that.

5). I would have worked much harder on my college track team. I was always whining about my hamstring and I was pissed off because the coach didn't pay that much attention to me like my coach in high school. I should have appreciated the opportunity to run at a DI University even if I wasn't the best on the team.

I know it's not cool to have regrets, but what can I say? I think I would have done things differently. I'm not totally bummed about it or anything, but I can't say I'm proud of past mistakes.

1) More travel when younger

2) Run more mileage in high school and college (15:48 5,000 as a high school senior on 15-20 miles a week after a summer of averaging about 9 miles a week (with NO structured running) shows some talent that I never tapped into)

3) Started my music career earlier and more seriouisly

However, had I done any or all of the above, I would have less money than I do now (most likley as it is highly unlikely more running or more time spent on music would have created a career in either to bring home lots of cash). So maybe #1 above is a regret, but 2 and 3 are more curiosities.

[quote]Flagpole Willy wrote:

2) Run more mileage in high school and college (15:48 5,000 as a high school senior on 15-20 miles a week after a summer of averaging about 9 miles a week (with NO structured running) shows some talent that I never tapped into)

quote]

Geez. Untapped talent is an understatement if the above claim is true. I broke 5 minutes in the mile on about 10 miles per week when I first took up distance running. But I'd say your 15:48 on 15-20 with a laughable summer base takes the cake, so to speak.

... I wish I had gone to more Grateful Dead concerts back in the 70s. Little did I know that I'd never see anything like that again.

1) would have done (and continue to do) the work it takes to fulfill my potential as a runner and an athlete.

2) would have avoided salaried work, instead developing marketable personal skills that allow my work to serve my life instead of the other way around.

3) Would have avoided carrying any credit or getting saddled w/ amortgage, allowing me to continue travel and pursuing my dreams well into middle age.

4) Would have avoided marriage and kids, for above reasons. Realize that there are plenty of other healthy (and fun!) outlets for the primal urge to procreate and replicate little versions of myself.

5) Would perform volunteer service to the community while in conjunction with my passion for adventure and athleticism.

6) Would have realized that as an American with good education, I could live better on 15-20K a year than 99% of the people in the history of the world.

7) After some serious health issues in my late 20's, I would have put #1 priority on taking care of my personal health and fitness, without which I am unable to truly help anyone else.

Oh yeah, just realized that I did all of the above.

redmeansdead wrote:

[quote]Flagpole Willy wrote:

2) Run more mileage in high school and college (15:48 5,000 as a high school senior on 15-20 miles a week after a summer of averaging about 9 miles a week (with NO structured running) shows some talent that I never tapped into)

quote]

Geez. Untapped talent is an understatement if the above claim is true. I broke 5 minutes in the mile on about 10 miles per week when I first took up distance running. But I'd say your 15:48 on 15-20 with a laughable summer base takes the cake, so to speak.

Yep. My hand to God that it is true. In the mid 80s, many high school coaches were preaching less is more and rest. I just didn't know any better then, and there was no internet to get varying opinions. We were told NOT to run on the weekends, so during the season, I would run 5 days a week, and usually one or two of those days were meets; there were some weeks when I ran LESS than 15 miles. My CC coach didn't want to hang around too long, so the longest run I did during the season was probably 5 miles. Track was no different as far as amount of training. Ran 9:48 on such little training. Seeing how deminishing returns is a real thing, it's difficult to know how much better I could have gotten, but had I been running 60-70 miles a week even over the summer and 40-50 during CC with a ramp up over the winter, I've got to believe 9:20s were possible in high school. I did run a 9:21 indoor 2 mile in college at the beginning of the winter season and then 14:58 later on for 5,000, but even then, I wasn't running 70 mile weeks or more. Could 100-mile weeks have given me a big boost then? Perhaps. I did run 100-mile weeks later on when training for ultramarathons, but the focus was different, and I didnt' run shorter races then. Wish I would have.

I would have focused way more on my studies and not gotten so wrapped up in a sport that more frequently leads to injury/illness/burn-out than PRs that are so fast that running should be the sole occupation in one's life. I basically gave up going to medical school to see how far I could take it. What a blunder. Very, very few (<1%) of the semi-talented college runners will make it post-collegiately. Leave it all on the track in college, then get on with your life unless you are one of the few that can actually MAKE an Olympic team. In that case give it just a few more years, but hang it up by age 28 at the latest unless your last name is El Guerrouj or Aouita or Songkok. 28-29 something in the 10k sounds great, but trust me, it ain't worth shit and will leave you with hobbled joints the rest of your life.

Would have gone to a College in the South instead of doing 15mi long runs in snow storms. Also I would have gone to college single and would have tried to bang as many girls as possible.

I never should have listened to that guy.

("...yeah...letsrun dot com....check it out....")

Skuj wrote:

I never should have listened to that guy.

("...yeah...letsrun dot com....check it out....")

LOL. Classic. So much truth there. Although, I honestly can't remember how I came across Letsrun.com. If someone told me about it, I regret having met that person.

Like a lot of other people, I would have run higher mileage in high school. In college, I would have gone right into the field that I'm in now instead of staying with a subject that I discovered I didn't like but provided a scholarship. I would have visited my grandfather more before he died. I would have told a certain guy that I liked him even though he would probably have rejected me.

I wouldn't have passed out that night my buddy's sister was about to hook up with me. She had ignored me for years. But I went to visit my buddy one weekend and she was there. She had just broken up with her longtime boyfriend. We all went out, got drunk, everybody except us passed out, she came into the room with me, we laid down, and the next thing I remember is waking up. I'm 100% certain we would have had wild animal sex that night.

regrets wrote:

i would have posted more and read less posts

That is the all time classic. Letsrun as metaphor.