From e21587eca6c8ac56c24929e5210f05da2ca8865d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Henry Webster Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2026 14:46:05 -0500 Subject: backfill blog posts --- posts/2025-10-20_man-meets-expectations.md | 18 ++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 18 insertions(+) create mode 100644 posts/2025-10-20_man-meets-expectations.md (limited to 'posts/2025-10-20_man-meets-expectations.md') diff --git a/posts/2025-10-20_man-meets-expectations.md b/posts/2025-10-20_man-meets-expectations.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f1ecd11 --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/2025-10-20_man-meets-expectations.md @@ -0,0 +1,18 @@ +title: Man Meets Expectations at Half Marathon +date: 2025-10-20 00:00 +--- + +
+ The author +
The author.
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+ +If failure is the key to learning, this man is locked out, politely buzzing the neighbors in the hopes they’ll let him back into their apartment building. + +On Sunday, September 28th, 2025, Chicago resident and first-time half-marathoner Henry Webster, 29, ran in the Chicago Half-Marathon and performed exactly how he planned. After training for two months to run 13.1 miles in two hours, what another half-marathon sign-up form called perfectly average, he crossed the finish line with two minutes to spare. + +While he is a hobbyist 5K runner, this was Mr. Webster’s first time attempting runs at longer distances. When asked how he came up with the target number, he said, “I added a bit of a buffer to my 5K pace and it came out to around two hours. I figured that’s a nice, round number.” + +In his reaction to the performance, he was uncomplicated, if uncompelling. “I said to myself I was going to do something, and then I did it. I don’t feel any strong emotions.” After being reminded that this is prime content for a social media post about personal improvement, he dug slightly deeper. “My splits were tight, even slightly negative. Maybe that means I made it too easy on myself. I should have pushed harder. On the other hand, I had a target and drilled that nine minute-per-mile pace into my head over two months. I did exactly what I thought I was going to do, so what more could I possibly want?” + +The ambiguous sentiment hasn’t deterred him from participating in more half-marathons. He went home and signed up for another one in six months. Asked if there was a new target, he finally had an air of excitement. “One hour and forty-five minutes. Quarter clock turn. Eight minutes-per-mile. I like round numbers.” -- cgit v1.3