My competitive running history goes as follows: Full-on emotional immersion in 7th and 8th grade track and field.  (Emotional involvement largely predicated on fear of failure and discomfort during a time in my life when a) it was extremely important to be well-liked and b) I was kind of wimpy.) 10th grade track season that I participated in for lack of anything better to do Participation in massive road races open to the general population with very little formal training program So here’s the thing. In 8th grade, I wasn’t terrible.  I wasn’t amazing, but I was decent for an 8th grader.  I showed promise.  I probably didn’t work overly hard…