Tuesday, February 24, 2009

So I'm not a speedy guy

I tried. Honestly, I did.

I ran four miles earlier today. Since I didn't need to conserve my strength for anything, I figured I'd open it up, stretch my legs and fly... in relative terms of course. Well, if that was flying, then I'm part-ostrich. I barely got off the ground in my "flight" around my neighborhood.

I finished the run in 36:57. It's not the worst time, but it's certainly not fast, at least not in the 30- to 35-year-old male category.

But I did try. I actually started off pretty decent, ran for the first mile or so at about a pace of 8:30 to 8:40 per mile. Then, I made the fatal mistake (at least in terms of my speed prospects) or running uphill. There's a nice big hill near my house and I've ran over the whole thing once. But I like to run up to the where the sidewalk ends, just to the entrance of a golf club, cross the street and run back down. It's a fairly lonely street so the traffic isn't a problem or anything. No stupid dogs either.

Anyway, at the base of the hill I was under a nine-mile-per-hour pace. When I got to the end of the sidewalk and turned around, the Garmin flashed 9:17. Next to it read the word SLOW.

Okay, it didn't but it should have.

I guess my run clears up one thing. I'm not fast. I'm not going to win any speed races, or probably any race that doesn't involve my daughters (at least until they get to high school or something). But that's a good thing. I have my boundaries that I like to work within. I have limits and I am fully aware of them. I've ran a mile under seven minutes before and I'm proud of that. I've beaten lots of people in various races I've competed in, so I'm not the slowest 30-35 yr-old male out there.

So what if I'm part ostrich? Man was not meant to fly anyway, right?

2 comments:

thrasherswife said...

oh my friend, my garmin reads really slow!! I'm lucky these days to stay in a 10 range!! I say you're speedy enough!!

Unknown said...

Oh you slow poke! However, isn't the moral of the story "Slow and steady wins the race"?