I could never run 1500 m in under four minutes. Oh, I can walk it in under fifteen minutes but I could never run it in under four.
My cousin who, let's face it, I have been pimping on here, ran in the semi-finals at the world champs this morning (last night in Korea o'clock) and for a while he was right in there, keeping up.
Alas, in this race, it was not meant to be.
Geoff does not regard this as a failure but an opportunity to run with the absolute best in the world. For him, it has been an opportunity to set the gauge for Calgary and then London in 2012; he has seen all this as a learning experience.
For Geoff, it was not a race lost but a dream come true.
I think Geoff said it best on his blog: "As I was walking up the backstretch towards the line, prior to the starting of tonight's 1500m, I looked around and tried to take in the moment. I can't put in words what it was like, I couldn't take a picture for it, no silly blog video would capture it. To walk the track among the best 1500m runners in the world, to be in a big, packed stadium, and to be wearing the Canadian singlet; it was literally a dream come true."
So the question I ask myself tonight is this: do I have the ability to turn my losses into victories?
It really is about perspective, isn't it?
