I participated in the Frank Colden Invitational at Ursinus College this past Saturday. It went wonderfully for the whole team- nearly everyone on the distance squad PRed.

I personally came in 2.5 seconds faster in the 3k than I did two weeks ago. I’m very pleased, since I usually measure my success relative to my own past performance. I came in 13th, with an unimpressive time, but I’m never disappointed with improvement.

What had me particularly excited, though, was the sudden improvement that I saw in many teammates who had been injured or simply in a slump. One friend in particular, who has spent the last 9 months in states of relative injury, managed to come back from both. He pulled off a 34-second PR in the 3k. I have a memory from just after the race, foggy and disoriented, of him clapping me on the back and screaming, “I’m back!” He was in as much pain as I was, but not even that could keep him from celebrating.

My friend isn’t mentioned on our college’s meet results- he was too slow to win us any points. So I would like to honor him here. If an injury can take you out of a race physically, a slump can take you out mentally. To beat both, I think, is more impressive than winning the race.