Skipping Running Races I've Signed Up For

Last Saturday morning's Newnan's Lake 15K, which I skipped after signing up for it, hasn't been the only running race I've passed by.  As a matter of fact, within the past year it's the third such time.  Back in February 2023 I skipped the Florida Track Club's Micanopy Ten-Miler that I had run the previous year.  And then in April I skipped the Run Your Buns Off (yes, that's its name) half-marathon.  All three times I had different reasons for not running them and it's always a possibility.  Yet although I'm disappointed I didn't run these races...and a few others including the 2012 Ocala Half-Marathon...there's always something on the horizon to look forward to and there are more important things in life than running races.  I can say the same thing about reading books...I wonder how many books I've checked out from the library or even bought that I never read.  The latest one I checked out, Dutch novelist/poet/journalist Cees Nooteboom's 553 Days, is in fact destined to be one of them...