Run a good race

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Thomas Davison
  • 436th Civil Engineering Squadron commander
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  It's a phrase set down for posterity by Paul of Tarsus: "I have run the good race..."

While he is talking about his Christian faith, his choice of words directly applies to us in today's Air Force regardless of our religious beliefs. Every day I see many of us run our races well, and sometimes I see a few who do not.

In our physical fitness program with its critical career implications, I see most people struggle with the run portion of the test. In discussing our resiliency program, I see many parallels between how to be a resilient Airman and how to run a good race: patience, persistence, and pushing through to victory are three characteristics I'll focus on.

Having been a runner since I was young (2:04 in the 800 meters in high school, 8:14 in the 1.5-mile run in ROTC) and having lived through numerous resiliency moments in my life (my little brother, little sister, niece and son all died well before their time), I thought I'd share what I've learned about running a good race.

Patience is the first thing I will focus on, because it is the foundation from which to build your other talents and skills. In training to run a race, start out doing what you are capable of and build your speed and distance from there. Your body needs time to grow new muscle tissue, your circulatory system needs time to grow new capillaries and your ligaments and tendons need time to heal and strengthen from each workout.

In actually running a race, start out running fast enough to stay competitive but not so fast to where you burn out before you finish. You will need energy to carry you to the end of the race; don't peak and burn out early or you might not even finish.

In being a resilient Airman, you need to be patient in going after the things you want in life. Too many Airmen carry severe stress levels because they want new cars, fancy electronics, and big houses right away. The debt loads that result from their impatience can destroy marriages, families and careers.

Persistence, equally as important as patience, is the next characteristic I will focus on because I believe good things in life come through hard work and never giving up. In training to run a race, you need to run hard and push yourself or you will never improve.
I see folks who jog through their PT programs and coast through their workouts, only to fail their PT tests because they don't even know how to run fast enough long enough to achieve a passing score.

In actually running a race, you need to push yourself at a pace that isn't easy or comfortable in order to be competitive. The art of running a good race is a balance between patience (don't start out running too hard) and persistence (run hard enough to finish well).

In being a resilient Airman, you need to work hard to be successful as you progress through your career. Getting advanced degrees, supporting your unit's goals, and winning awards and promotions all take hard work. Those willing to do the work will see the benefits.

Pushing through to victory is the third characteristic I will focus on because it gives purpose to all the hard work and temporary suffering that comes before winning. In training to run a race, the intensity of effort you put into your workouts is dictated by the level of victory you wish to achieve.

Training to meet the minimum PT scores is a dangerous game, because if you have a bad day and run a bit slower than usual you'll wind up failing your test and suffering the negative consequences to your life (welcome to Fit Camp!) and career (referral performance report for not meeting standards).

In actually running a race, you need to focus on victory (personal best-ever run time, max points in your age bracket, etc.) in order to pull yourself through when your lungs are burning and your legs feel like they can't move; this is the level of effort you need to put out in order to win your race.

In being a resilient Airman, you need to push through to victory as well in your life. Whether you want to be the best parent and spouse you can be, be the best Airman you can be, or live your life to its fullest, you will need to put forth the effort needed to achieve those victories.

In summary, I've learned you need to be patient, maintain persistence, and push through to victory in order to be successful. All good things in life take hard work and deliberate effort to achieve, and you're on the right track when you know you will be able to say in the end, with complete confidence and conviction, "I have run a good race."