The Million Dollar Question

There is a mystery in the life of a runner that needs a solution.  And when I figure it out, I will market it in Runner's World magazine and enjoy a wealthy retirement.  The mystery is:  Why do I feel good on one run, and then feel like last week's leftovers on another run?  Yesterday I ran my sixth official 10K and I set a new PR.  My bucket list goal is to get in under 1 hour.  Yesterday I did it in 1 hour and 6 seconds.  (MY garmin said 1 hour and 2 seconds, but I'll "graciously" ...  >:-/ ... let that go ...)  Needless to say, it was a great run!  Part of the reason was that several friends were running also, which always makes anything more fun.  There were a couple of challenging hills, including one nasty hill towards the end that, IMO, was just downright rude and unnecessary.  Even at that, I got my best time to date and finished feeling good.

Two weeks ago I did that 10K at Champoeg Park and crossed the finish line gasping and frothing like an old horse needing to be put out of its misery.   (You've got to admit, it takes a certain degree of security in one's self-being to publicly post such an unflattering shot.)

That route in the above picture at Champoeg was f-l-a-t and yesterday's route was, as I said, anything but.  So WHY?  And what concerns me most is that I CAN'T SEEM TO CONTROL NOR PREDICT IT.  On a routine run, the old-horse syndrome doesn't really matter, other than it can be really irritating.  But there are runs when it DOES matter ...!

Anyway, here's a photo showing off a sampling of some Awesome Running Friends at yesterday's 10K.  (You will recognize FRP to my right.)  It was the first of the annual Newberg Camelia Festival runs, and I plan to boot Champoeg out of my routine and replace it with this!

Pay particular attention to Awesome Running Friends 2nd and 3rd from the right.  This was their debut 10K and THEY RAN THE WHOLE WAY!   You can now say you knew them when .... because I'm sure we haven't seen the last of these two in this dazzling world of pavement-pounding.  AND they, like me, used to HATE THE WHOLE IDEA OF RUNNING.  (Maybe they still do ....)  Another two of the Awesome Running Friends in the picture (Tall Guy in Back and White Hat Gal) are also somewhat new to 10Ks and are showing us all how it's done.  Finally, the Far Right Gal left burn marks on the street as she rocketed off into the lead.

So whatever that mystery component that creates a good run is, whether it's adequate rest, nutrition, warming-up, lucky socks - or if it's simply the stars aligning themselves correctly ....  I hope it kicks in when I really need it.