This is BigDaddy enjoying the moments before the Green Bay Marathon.

As a high school teacher, I get to experience graduation season every year. Every year, I see many seniors acting excited to reach the end of their high school journey. I also see many of these graduates hiding fear of this same ending. Many of my kids say, “I can’t believe this is the end. Can you believe this is our last (fill in the blank with any high school memory).” This year, I started listening to students talking about they are excited about. No more essays. No more stupid school rules. No more teacher’s prying questions. These are the most common responses. It made me wonder: why do we so often focus on what is ending and lose focus on what is to come? Even better, let’s enjoy where we are.

Runners would enjoy running infinitely more if they dwelt in the present instead of the past. In Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert gives numerous examples of how our minds are faulty at recording past events and horrible at predicting our future. Yet, we define ourselves by personal bests set in the past. Every race I run is instantly compared to my previous best efforts.Yesterday, I did the Panther Prowlat West Ottawa High School. It was a small 5k, no prizes, about 130 runners total. I was aware that John “MadDog” Donnelly would be running, so I knew I would be pushed in the race. Before the race began, I was thinking about the last time I ran this race. I set a PR, but Donnelly beat me by ten seconds. This time, I started hard and led through the first mile. Instead of the enjoying the race, though, I thought about another 5k that I raced with the MadDog. I passed him at the two mile mark only to be re-passed in the last quarter of a mile. Rather than enjoying the first race that I led, I was thinking about the past. I continued dwelling on history through the end of the race. During the last 100 meters, I realized that I was going to win. I have never outright won a race. I did it! I won! Oh, but my time was not as good as last time (on a different course). Immediately, my first outright win was compared to my previous PR. My wonderful wife helped me to realize that this is ridiculous. Even if I didn’t win. Even if my time was 20 minutes slower instead of 10 seconds slower. How could focusing on the past be worthwhile? I should have been celebrating where I was at the moment.

All too often, the moment is lost in plans for the future, too. Too often, I have finished a race only to be looking at Marathonguide.com or Michigan Runnerto find my next race. This robs the present. We need to savor the races we’re running. I run marathons. Training schedules dominate my days to race once or twice a year. I should enjoy the marathon when I’m running it. During those 16-, 18- or 20-week training schedules, we need to live in today’s Interval or Fartlek. If you’re always thinking about the next race, why are you running the current one?

So that’s my lesson for the weekend. Enjoy TODAY’S run. Savor TODAY’S race. Live in TODAY. And graduates, be nice to your parents and teachers.