Are you proud of your PR's?

4x400 split 53.X - After 1600 and 800. I collapsed.

4x800 split 1:57.X - Could have ran faster. Headed for lane 2/3 off the turn when my guy was in lane 1. We got a school record but I think we could have ran 2 sec faster and won state.

800 1:59.9 - Should be closer to relay split.

1600 4:27.2 - Perfectly paced. 67 mid then good kick 63/4.

3200 10:25 in a CC 5k

5000 CC 16:27 - If I had ran .5 sec faster we would have won conference.

I'm content with my PR's but haven't improved in nearly a year, that's what frustrates me.

mystery miler wrote:

An interesting question my friend asked me the other day. He said despite me having what he considers to be respectable PR's, I never seem satisfied with them. I think that this may be true of a lot of distance runners. So LRC folks, I ask you- are you proud of your PR's?

When I turned 40 my goal was to beat Masters All American standards for the 40-44 800m (2:06) and 1 mile (4:50). The best I could manage was 2:11 for 800 and 5:04 for mile. Really not that close since that is almost 1/2 straightaway and 1 full straightaway respectively. The funny thing is that it is incredibly easy to hit the All American standards for road races. All American standards are based on a percentage of all performances for each age group. The fact is many casual runners raise the time in road races while there are very few casual runners in track races.

FYI, two example of the Masters Road Racing All American standards for comparison:

5K - 20:59 (I ran 18:50), 10K - 43:41 (I ran 40:18). My 5K and 10K PRs aren't comparable with my 800 and 1 Mile times, but they still easily beat the road racing standards.

i am proud of my PR's in the sense that on that given day, i think i did my best. but immediately after running them i set a new goal. always unfinished business.

pr's-

400- 52.2, relay split so more like 53 flat? ran tired after too other races. want to go under 52 though.

800- 2:00.03, run alone in dual meet. take a wild guess what my goal was!!

1600- 4:25.4, run in a big invitational. pretty happy with this one.

3200- 9:56.6, run the day after a hard 400/800 double, probably my weakest pr. definitely felt like i could have gone sub 9:40 fresh

XC 5k- 15:57.5, happy with this one because the goal was sub 16 5k.

As a runner no. Any runner would say the same:

400-51 flat

800 2 flat (soo many times its painfull)

1500- 3:54

Mile-4:11

2 mile-8:44

Steeple- 9:15

5-k(road) 14:34

10-k (road)- 29:12

10 mile 52:12 (Cal-10 miler-got a shirt for sub 60)

half--74:15

marathon- 2:26

8-k 24:15 (x-c)

but I like the thread so be it. in my late 40's now 800 my only issue

I've run under 30 minutes for 10,000m, the fastest I ever recall running an 800m was 2:02.

I am proud of my prs, but with a twist - at virtually all distances I have an outlier PR - I didn't come close to it again. So I must have lacked some mental strength in hs.

Proud of my mid-d prs, but I am just getting back to the sport, and longer distances after several years.

400 50.0

800 1:54.0

1500 3:59

5k 16:04 (road)

Marathon 3:05

Given track times, I am embarrassed to run so slowly on the road now (in the marathon).

proud, but never satisfied

I look at things a little different these days. Before my heart transplant I was running in the low 2's for 800 and low 4:30's for the mile as a master. Now 6 months after my transplant I am running low 7's for a 5k and low 30's for 200 meters. I have the same attitude towards the slower times now as I did when I was running faster times almost 20 years ago. Except now I am much more motivated and happier when I run knowing that the alternative is not a happy thought.

I haven't posted on letsrun in maybe 3 years, but these types of posts are sad. Anyone who has an excuse for every pr was never a real competitor.

I'm relatively proud of my PRs but, despite that, most of the time my PRs are a source of great regret.

While I can sit back and say that what I accomplished was something worth doing and being proud of, all I generally think of is what I didn't accomplish that I still think I should have achieved. The never ending "woulda, coulda, shoulda".

So, while I'm proud of them, my PRs generally leave with with equal amounts of regret and pride. If I had it my way, I'd still be able to chase new PRs. However, I'm old and more and more I've learned that perhaps it was more hard work and dedication than it was pure talent that allowed me to do what I did.

55: 6.39

100: 10.27w (10.31 wind legal)

200: 20.82w

400: 49.3 (4x4 1st leg split)

800: 2:03 (4x8 split ran as a freshman in HS before I was allowed to be a sprinter)

1600:5:03 (ran in 8th grade)

800 - 1:55 (yes)

1500 - 3:54.19 (yes)

3000 - 8:35 (not really - think I could have run low 8:20s)

3000 SC - 9:31 (whatever)

5000 - 14:56 (road race- proud for a road race, but not for track)

10,000 - 30:40 (yes/no lapped the field ran the entire race by myself (yes)- believe I could have run under 30 in the right race (no)

Half Marathon - 1:09:28 (en route to marathon - no way! A PR on the way to the full distance is usually not a good sign)

Marathon - 2:29:41 (proud of the race I ran this in, but definitely not my PR. Had one attempt where I was at 2:20 pace through 18 miles and had a horrible last 8 miles, and then one year later I had built up to sub 2:20 shape I believe but got the flue the week of the race and was unable to compete. I'm still very bitter about this almost 3 years later.

5 Foot Nothin, 100 and Nothin wrote:

55: 6.39

100: 10.27w (10.31 wind legal)

200: 20.82w

400: 49.3 (4x4 1st leg split)

800: 2:03 (4x8 split ran as a freshman in HS before I was allowed to be a sprinter)

1600:5:03 (ran in 8th grade)

Holy crap. Source of regret? I'd -love- to have that 100 time.. But I understand it's different when you actually run it.

Tough to understand why you're best 800 was only 2-flat, IDK. With 51-second 400 speed, and a 4:11 Mile? Why do you think that was? It would seem that there are certain tweener distances (tweener for certain people) that never work out for certain people. My Stanford team had a 50-flat 400 runner who was also an All-American in cross-country and the steeplechase, but who couldn't get under a 4:13 Mile. On paper he should have been much faster.

Anyone have thoughts on this?

400 57 at the end of a workout

800 2:10 from high school

1500m 4:01 college

1600m 4:18 time trial college

3000m steeple 9:19 college

5000m 14:48 college

8k cross 24:54

I feel like I could have improved all of these, but I'm most embarrassed about my steeplechase and 1500/1600 prs as I know I could have run much faster with more opportunities. I was always in my best shape during hot championship season in tactical races. I feel pretty good about my 5k pr and my 8k pr is alright, although I think I could have run much faster in the 8k on a faster course.

5 Foot Nothin, 100 and Nothin wrote:

I'm relatively proud of my PRs but, despite that, most of the time my PRs are a source of great regret.

100: 10.27w (10.31 wind legal)

Your 100 time is on the cusp of being elite. I can see why this would be frustrating. Not all dreams come true. For the rest of us, I don't get being not proud of your PRs because you could have done better or still want to do better. Why can't it be both?

To those of you who say you spent too much time pursuing running, that's a different issue, I think; you might not be proud of the sacrifices you made, but you can still be proud of your achievements.

To the person who listed an excuse after every PR: sorry dude, nobody cares. You ran what you ran.

To be sincere my PR's are all over the board and I don't know why. My 800 time haunts me that I couldn't even break 2 on relay split.

400 - 53.x 1st leg 4x400

800 - 1:59.low 1st leg 4x800

1600 - 4:26

3200 - 9:33 (sit and kick race, 3rd at state, not happy with time, proud of the race)

5000 XC - 15:25

Would love to be faster in all of them, track season got screwed this year with multiple injuries. College goal of sub 14:30 for 5000m