While the English language can be imprecise and fickle, it is nice that there are synonyms for words that help refine and differentiate meaning.
Take arrogant. It has a negative connotation, but words in the same family have different degrees of emotional responses — bravado, confident, pompous — you get the idea.
After running the Boston Marathon in 2011, I would tell people, "I won't run Boston again until I'm 40." Running fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon assumed a lot. It assumed I'd stay healthy enough to be able to maintain an adequate training volume. It assumed I'd have enough time to put in the training necessary.
At the time, I didn't think twice about assuming I'd qualify for the Boston Marathon. Right now, my qualifying time would be under 3:10. My first Boston Marathon qualifying time (BQ) was 3:10 and I ran a 3:02 when trying to qualify. In subsequent marathons I ran 2:59, 2:50, 2:58, 3:03, and 3:04 — all of which would have been BQs.
I then had a couple of marathons in which the courses were mismarked and/or mismeasured, which would have also been BQs. But after that, with injuries and lack of time to train, I was no longer running BQs. I ran a 3:07 (which would qualify me now but not at the time I ran it), 3:20, and 3:14.
So, in retrospect, it was arrogant of me to assume qualifying for Boston would be easily attainable when I was 40. It obviously wasn't.
It's good though. A little dose of humility doesn't hurt at all.
Run well.
