SMART RACE?

So I can run a marathon and not get a blister (other than the two that I always get under my 2nd toes). But I take the dog for a 10 minute walk in my dress shoes and I get a blister.

I went for a massage yesterday. No, that is not normal for me. However, a high school friend of mine manages a “parlor” near my job. I went to see her a couple of weeks ago and she gave me a free hour massage. Just before I got there the power went out. Luckily they had some flashlights lying around so we used those to light the room. I didn’t get the heated oils, the heated massage table or the relaxing music, but to a novice like me, it didn’t matter. My friend felt bad and gave me another pass for another hour massage.

I understand that the coolrunning and runnersworld forums have their place, but they’re not for me. Every once in awhile I’ll drop in and lurk, but the rah-rah spirit really drives me crazy. As an example, I was reading a Grandma’s report during lunch. The runner was shooting for his BQ of 3:14 (side note: I’m not sure where he got 3:14 from – maybe he was talking 3:14:59, which is actually 3:15:59 since the BAA “gives” you that extra minute). Anyway, he went out in 1:34 and struggled home in 3:49. No, that’s not what drives me crazy. It’s the comment someone left that stated something like “congrats on running a smart race.” How is that a smart race? Maybe it took guts to hang in there or survive cramps or whatever else happened to this particular runner, but I don’t think I’d call it a smart race.