Early morning. Sunny, brisk chill wind. Walking along pristine beach. No one in sight. Cliffs to the right, need to walk 12 miles before tide comes back in, otherwise no escape. So hurrying along. In fact, gently jogging. Feeling good with early start and progress. After a while, realized that someone had walked along the beach with a dog in the last hour. Wait a moment, from the distance between the steps, either they were either a giant or they’d been running with the dog. Hmm, I jogged on, thinking I might catch them. The miles passed. But no, the footprints just carried on, seemingly endlessly. I tried following them exactly, but was running more slowly, and so couldn’t match the amplitude. Who was this Olympian?

Then I remembered: compare yourself to how you were yesterday, not others. There are always those who’ll be better. With that, cheered up and the 12 miles flew by. Well, sort of.