August 9, 1979 (Thursday)

From running log:
No entry, day off

30 years later:
As I recall it now, I was still fuming and whining about being cut off by the train in the previous day's race. I'm sure my parents and sisters were quite tired of hearing about it. I was feeling powerless, which (as we all know) is one of the most-difficult emotions with which we must cope. In all of our lives, things happen that are beyond our ability to control, despite our deepest desires otherwise.

A teenage boy is typically not-so-well equipped to cope with such incidents. The testosterone-driven self-belief of a boy of that age is unreasonably rigid, stubborn, and at the same time fragile. The experience of that Old Fashion Day race was challenging me to accept that I could not control all of the variables around me. It was pushing me to learn how to accept failure, even when the cause of that failure was not under my control. I can't say that I "learned my lesson" back then, because I believe mastering that very lesson does not come easy or fast. It is more of a life-long process of learning, one in which we all have many opportunities to improve.