If you had to do it all over again, what would YOU change?

I think the problem was all the legitimate enrolled voters that were taken off the roles because they happened to have the same last name as a felon. The fraud occured before the election.

I wish I had never read Cooper's book. Nothing against him, but it put the idea of striving for sub 6:40's on each mile of each run. A tall order for a guy with little natural talent.

I wish I'd done more pure mileage earlier in life and never have tried football or hockey. That alone would have kept me out of the emergency room and avoided some surgery.

(I used to like to watch football and hockey, but now would rather watch a good track meet.)

I wouldn't have spent the time I did on meaningless casual sex.

I would have spent lots more.

Oh man, this is a good one...

In high school my average yearly progression in mileage would have looked like 30, 40, 50, 60 a week rather than the 10-20 a week I did.

In college I would have asked my coach to experiment on me and build my average weekly mileage from 70 to 80, 90, 100 a week, and I would have kept on doing that no matter the ups and downs in my racing.

After I graduated, I would have continued to run 80-100 mile weeks until today.

(1) Learned more about running. "If I only knew then...."

(2) Stretched more.

(3) Less beer. While I wasn't a boozehound by any stretch, I can say I'd rather have back some workouts I missed and some races I wasn't clear-headed for.

(4) Doing is always better than watching -- even if the doing is a mundane workout and the watching is something pretty cool. What are you trying to become, a good runner or a good spectator?

(5) When I was 25, I was unencumbered in many ways and trained my ass off Monday a.m. through Friday a.m., but then spent the weekends feeling sorry for myself. I missed out on a hard workout, a long run, and another 30+ miles a week. That was my chance to become elite, and I threw it away.

I would have gotten my own hotel room in Kansas city for the NAIA nationals then maybe I would have been all American. My roommate was a bum that did not care and went out with this whore and caught a nasty cold. Staying in the same room with them for three days I ended up with it the night of the finals in the three mile run. I had the fastest Q time going in and got lapped twice coming out. What a dam shame. Throwing up all over the track with a fever. Thanks to Hank Menke of Toms River N.J. an SLU alum

I would have listened to my body alot better and taken more rest days instead of high intensity all the time , or alot of the time! I would have got started on proper vitamin supplements at an earlier age, hydrated better, focused on better sleep,stretched more....... hmm hind sight is 20/20

anyway, I am doing all these things now and enjoying a really decent Masters career. Life goes on :O)

Woulda coulda shoulda!

1. i'd have run over the summer in high school.

2. i'd have run 1 second faster in the state meet of champs my senior year. all we needed was one goddamn second. if i had run over the summer that wouldn't have been a problem i guess (see #1).

Still bitter I see?

I would have kicked on the from 300 metres out in Tampa in 1987 instead of waiting until 90 metres from home.

I was 20 and ran 1:50 flat that day, but I'm convinced it could have been *the* breakthrough race for me if I had had a bit more confidence (or the courage) to go earlier.

I eventually ran a bit faster than than (a snip under 1:49) but never felt as good as I did that day ever again.

Martin

Hinderloppet wrote:

Things I would have changed.......

3. Moved to Sacramento so I could hang out with the really cool people in California.

Sac is where all the cool kids are, ha.

This thread took off since I checked in last.

Hank Menke wrote:

Still bitter I see?

not so much bitter, it's just something i'd have done differently.

The first thing I would do, after having convinced my parents that my 25 year old self somehow got into my 2 year old self, would be to tell them that I AM IN CHARGE of what's on the dinner table. I don't think they understood how malnourished I was. Wow, this would be a huge list. Here are some prime points though...

1. I choose the family diet.

2. I absolutely do NOT go to public school, where the "No children let ahead" mentality is rampant.

3. No shoes unless absolutely necessary.

4. Mandatory piano lessons. (Home schooling)

5. Mandatory ballet lessons. (Home schooling)

6. Mandatory voice lessons. (Home schooling)

7. No TV's in the house.

8. No air conditioning to be used in the house.

9. Mandatory swim lessons. (Home schooling)

10. When we need to get somewhere, we walk or ride our bikes.

I could go on, but these are 10 points that would have been nice to apply from the time I was in the 2-5 year old range on to now.

I would of started running before the 10th grade.

I would not of switched to sprinting for 2 years of highschool.

i would of not drank as much my first semester of college

I would have let all the pressure go and not try to be something I thought everyone else wanted me to be. I would have just been me and I wouldn't have taken it so seriously. I would have been grateful for every breathe that came out because know I know how wonderful that is and how fortunate all of us are.

Very cool notion and one I agree with. The thing about toeing the line as a Masters runner with years and years of racing experience behind me is the more relaxed feeling of knowing what to expect, not that I skip pre race jitters or anything, but I have a great appreciation for being able to get up and boogie, er I mean head out the door and log 60 plus miles a week as I chase my feet towards my dreams....

interested michigander wrote:

I would have let all the pressure go and not try to be something I thought everyone else wanted me to be. I would have just been me and I wouldn't have taken it so seriously. I would have been grateful for every breathe that came out because know I know how wonderful that is and how fortunate all of us are.

d3guy007 wrote:

I would of started running before the 10th grade.

I would not of switched to sprinting for 2 years of highschool.

i would of not drank as much my first semester of college

Wow these three fit me to a tee. I started in the 10th grade. I sprinted in high school for 3 years though. I did drink too much my first semester of college as well before I got together with my girlfriend and now wife. Small world I guess.

If I could change anything, I would have believed my college coach when he told the team that our college "love" interests would only be a distraction to running. He was right.

Would have found someone I trusted & not been self-coached!

and

moved to altitude!