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yes, i’m that slow…

snailyesterday i dropped by my friend bill’s place to check out his studio. i’d seen him perform before, and i have some of his music on cd, but what a trip to watch him play as he showed me his latest creations.

how incredibly refreshing to simply observe someone manifest their talent, the natural outcome of an exercise in passion.

we had lunch at mother’s market (i had a scrumptious acai bowl with gobs of honey) and then i ran back home. yes, i ran to his house and back. it was just under 12 miles (total), but i was starting to feel a bit tired on my way back, about 2 miles from home. running suddenly felt like a major effort, and when i checked my garmin (guessing it would display a 10 min/mile, based on my effort level — that is my “speed work” pace; yes, i’m that slow) it read a 13 min pace. since i was running so slow anyway, i decided to just walk the rest of the way.

i was thrown in for an existential crisis by the fact that it took me just over 27 minutes to get home. “what am i? a (uber) slow runner? a “fast” walker? why would i care? does it matter? should i have just driven there after all then…? yada yada yada…”, i just witnessed as the negative self-talk developed… and vanished. then i felt. grateful.

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{ 4 comments… add one }
  • Chris March 1, 2008, 8:02 pm

    I know how you feel. I just started training for running again, because I take my final exam for my black belt at the beginning of May. The first part of that 12 hour long exam is a timed 2 mile run.

    The good news is that I finished my first test run with minutes to spare. The bad news is that I was 1 min 45 seconds over my usual and target mile splits 🙁

    After I get my base mileage back up, I am going to mix some speed work in in late March and April.

    Sigh….getting old blows 🙂

  • Dean March 8, 2008, 11:51 pm

    I wonder how many people would even *consider* running the 12 miles in the first place.

    – Dean

  • John Gunn March 10, 2008, 12:35 pm

    Just keep running…confidence builds with strength and strength comes with repetition.

    I like your style of writing too and I look forward to your posts on your progress!

    Best –

    JG

  • Trail Running March 14, 2008, 5:16 am

    I did that once. Two friends and I were supposed to go on a 7 mile run, 3.5 up and back. It was only our first month or two into running and we were really tired, so we had Mcdonald’s for breakfast and then got a ride back home. It was pretty sad.

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