You remember the story of the tortoise and the hare?  I do.  It’s how I race, slow and steady!  I’ve never really cared to  interval train and don’t really care that I don’t get faster.  I started running to relieve stress and for fitness.  You don’t need to get increasingly faster to hit those goals!  Although I have to admit I don’t like my newest trend which is getting slower!  My usual 5K time is around 30 minutes.  Not great.  Not horrible.  Just smack dab in the middle of the pack.  I like it that way.  I’ve still accomplished something usually before 9 AM on a weekend, while others are still snuggled up in their bed.  I also admit I’m not an athletic type of person.  I have to fight myself every single step of the way!

This last Sat I ran the Tiger Race in South Pasadena.  Unlike my more athletic friends I choose to stay with the 5K vs. stepping it up to the 10K.  I was slow.  32 minutes plus.  I can make a lot of excuses on why that was,  like I was sick the week before and hadn’t exercised since Monday, the start was brutal with a mass of walkers deciding to start at the front of the pack and causing me near-miss collisions for the first 1/2 mile, I was freakin’ freezing, etc.  But I’m a big girl.  I know why I’ve gotten slower.  I just don’t run as much.  My “faster” times were all run when I was doing 3+ miles every single day.  Although running is NEVER easy for me at that point it was definitely easier.  A 5K was a walk in the park.  Now I’ve swapped running days for Bar Method days and I’m lucky if I get my one run a week in.   So even a little ol’ 5K is a big deal to my non-running self.  I’m not unhappy with this exchange as I see more changes (for the better) in my body shape due to Bar Method.  Who can get angry at an exercise that elongates my runner thighs?  The folks at the Bar Method, in general, give a thumbs down to running as it works against flexibility and is, in general, considered a harsh exercise for your body (my feet would agree with this!).  I accept their dislike toward running but really don’t share it.

Running my little races is fun.  I get to see some of the same people over and over and there is definitely a running community that is fun to be part of even if I’m on the very very very very very very fringe of it.  So slow or not I’m going to keep going.  I may not go far and I may not go fast but EVENTUALLY I get to cross the finish line!  That turtle and me!