It's not a sacrifice if it's what you want to do

Workout today: 1 mile with Lindsey in 4:38 (64, 75, 75, 63) then 600, 400, 300, 200, 100. 600 was 1:32, 400 in 58, 300 in 44, 200 in 30.

The workout today wasn't anything that difficult, but if anything it helped me realize that I've come a long way in four months. I've got a better sense of pace than I have ever had in the past. I've got a sense of confidence with my running that I don't think I've really had since high school.

I think a lot of times people look at runners and think about how much they sacrifice. Granted, trying to run fast requires a significant portion of your time to be dedicated to that one thing in your life. It also means that sometimes you have to be selfish and sometimes you can't just do the easy thing. It generally means that you do a lot of work for what seems like very little tangible reward. But, I would argue that running isn't a sacrifice at all. Sure it sucks that sometimes you're not going to be able to go on that trip to Vegas five days before you race. But that's a choice you're making, because you realize that ultimately you only have so many races and so many chances to see the results of the work that you've put into running.

I'm 23 years old right now. I've got such a minuscule chance of ever making it big in running that a bookie wouldn't even take a bet on it. At the same time, if I'm ever going to do anything with running, now is the time. I'd rather not look back at this point in my life and say why the hell did I not try to do everything I could to see what would happen? I've got one of the best coaches in the world trying to help me, I've got a job that will be more understanding than most in terms of running and I've got a group of guys to train with. So, while I'm not going to be showing up on Wall Street anytime soon, at least at the end of this I'll know. I'll know that I wasn't scared to give it a shot.