Still Becoming

I just ran a 5K and finished with one of the best times I’ve ever had. The moment I realized I might come close to a personal best was about a mile from the finish. I glanced at my watch and saw my pace was solid. I could beat my record, I thought, but there’s no way.

I’ve been out of the running game for a while, and I’d made peace with the idea that I’d never run as fast as I used to. I even wrote about it recently in The Triathlon, reflecting on the importance of accepting a slower pace and embracing where I am now. I had all this running through my head when I mentally calculated how fast I thought I would be able to run today.

As I approached the finish line and saw the time I was about to clock, something shifted. I realized in an effort to be kind to myself (which I still stand by) I’d quietly given up on the idea of getting better. I thought I could maintain, maybe—but improve? That felt out of reach. But after today I feel like maybe my best is still ahead.

This feeling—that maybe my best isn’t behind me—is not the result of one great race but rather five consistent weeks of following a training plan. I ran every mile of my plan. I was flexible when life required it, but I didn’t make excuses. I ran slow, but I ran. And today, I felt the impact of that discipline. Today reminded me: when we show up for ourselves, again and again, we don’t just build endurance—we build belief.

It turns out progress doesn’t always look like a breakthrough—it can feel like a quiet return. A reminder that we’re not done growing, not done surprising ourselves. Five weeks of showing up added up to one moment that shifted how I see myself. And maybe that’s the real win: not the time on the clock, but the belief that I’m still becoming.