Run What You Brung

When I was a teenager, almost fifty years ago, the local drag strip would have racing for the residents on Friday nights. They called it “Run What You Brung”. It was informal drag racing. This was the era of the Hot Rod, and most of the manufacturers produced a hot car or two. Those days are over, mostly because gas was about twenty eight cents a gallon then, and people could afford to drive those super fast, gas guzzling, cars. Walk and run races are informal like that. We race with the body we brought with us.

Going to races are a wonderful way to test our fitness, because we can keep track of the time it takes us to finish a measured distance. Next time we challenge that particular distance, we can try to better our previous time. It's called going for a personal record or a “PR”. This concept is what racing is all about, being stronger and faster today than the last time we raced. Some never grasp the significance of racing against themselves and feel bad about their finishing place. But if their finish time was better than their last attempt, then it's a win, because it's a new personal record.

Racing takes on a whole new meaning, once realizing that the competition is a distance or a time and not the others who came to race. Then the experience becomes amazing.

Hundreds, even thousands, of people meeting at one place with the desire to do better. Then the other racers are no longer adversaries, but a support group, since it's common for competitors to encourage each other.

I learned a lot from those Friday nights at the track. Taking things out of the car made it lighter, so it would go faster. Buying premium gas, instead of regular gas, helped me get better times. Even putting extra air in the tires gave it less rolling resistance. Lessons learned at the drag strip work well in preparing for races a foot. Eating better to shed some pounds helps us to go faster. Just as a more efficient carburetor helps the car's engine to breathe better, an aerobic training program helps our heart grow stronger, giving us more endurance. Weight training strengthens our muscles giving us more power.

Exactly like showing up to those Friday night races of long ago, when we decide to try a walking or running race, we race with the body we have, “Brung”, with us. A strong, properly trained body will perform well over the distance. If we don't do the training to prepare then it's going to be a long day.

It's not just a step, it's a start.

Dave