I’ve noticed some interesting things while perusing running blogs as of late.\u00a0 While I don’t read blogs that have any sort of negativity towards slow runners (because I will not stand for that), I’ve noticed a sort of shame among us slow runners.\u00a0 And I’m guilty of it too.<\/p>\n
Here are some quotes that I’m not going to attribute to the blogs from which they came, as I don’t want to embarrass anyone.\u00a0 However, if you want to claim a quote, go ahead and do so in the comments, and I will put in a link.<\/p>\n
“Haha, I’m slow, I only run an 11 minute mile.” (Note – I think an 11 minute mile is fast.<\/em>)<\/p>\n “Well, I only run\/walk, I don’t run.”\u00a0 (Tell that to Jeff Galloway.<\/em>)<\/p>\n “I’ll be starting in the last corral because I’m slow.”\u00a0 (Yes, and you’re still out there.<\/em>)<\/p>\n “I’m only doing the half marathon.” (Okay, this isn’t about speed, but it’s still about belittling the accomplishment, and ONLY A HALF MARATHON?\u00a0 There is no only.<\/em>)<\/p>\n And it’s not just slow runners that I see this with.\u00a0 New runners, short distance runners, a lot of people are guilty of it.\u00a0 Why do we do this to ourselves?<\/p>\n Admittedly, it can be hard to be the slow one.\u00a0 Among my close friends, I\u2019m not the slowest, but I\u2019m definitely close to it.\u00a0 Thankfully, these friends are awesome, so I don\u2019t feel bad about it.\u00a0 And with my health issues, I\u2019m not likely to get a whole lot faster, especially in the short distance races.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got some room to improve in longer distances, so that\u2019s where I focus, but I will never qualify as fast.<\/p>\n And I know that some of you are probably reading this and thinking \u201cWhat is she talking about?\u00a0 Her half marathon PR is a 2:48.\u00a0 I will never be that fast. ” (And some of you are thinking \u201cWow, she\u2019s slow.\u201d\u00a0 Some are thinking \u201cHey, we\u2019re the same pace!\u201d\u00a0 And the rest of you are thinking \u201cWho in the world wants to run a half marathon?\u201d)<\/p>\n So I know I\u2019m not the slowest of the slow, but I\u2019m not fast either.\u00a0 I\u2019m in the last 25% of runners, probably even further back than that.\u00a0 Does it matter?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 But sometimes, it hurts when others say things to unintentionally belittle my goals and accomplishments.<\/p>\n \u201cOh my gosh, I could never run a marathon at a 1\/1 run\/walk interval.\u00a0 That\u2019s way too slow for me.\u201d<\/p>\n (The friend who said this probably doesn\u2019t remember she said it, nor did she intend for it to hurt as much as it did, but these things happen.)<\/p>\n It\u2019s tough when I finish a race to find the awards ceremony already started.\u00a0 Not that I thought I was winning any awards, but it still rubs a bit.\u00a0 Not that I expect the fast runners to have to wait for me to finish.\u00a0 It\u2019s just one of those moments where I realize just how slow I am.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s the point?\u00a0 The point is to not care. So what if you\u2019re slow?\u00a0 Own it.\u00a0 It reminds me of one of my favorite movies, Keeping the Faith, where the kid chants \u201cI love that I suck!\u201d<\/p>\n Except you don\u2019t suck, of course. You rock because you\u2019re out there doing it.\u00a0 So what if you\u2019re slow.\u00a0 Don\u2019t let it get you down.\u00a0 Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.\u00a0 Set goals for yourself.\u00a0 Maybe those goals are to get faster.\u00a0 Maybe those goals are to reach a new distance.\u00a0 Maybe those goals are to take as many ridiculous race pictures as possible.\u00a0 Figure out what you want and set that goal.\u00a0 Just be reasonable.\u00a0 For example, I will never qualify for Boston.\u00a0 The qualifying time for an 80-year-old woman is 5 hours and 25 minutes.\u00a0 While I have never run a marathon, a race predictor tells me that a person who can run a 5:25 marathon will run a 2:34 half.\u00a0 I can run a 2:48 half now.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that I\u2019m going to be faster in my 80\u2019s.<\/p>\n But you know what?\u00a0 That\u2019s okay.\u00a0 My goals right now are to someday get my half time under 2:45.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to take speedwork and finding a race in a nice cool climate.\u00a0 My other goals are to finish a marathon and a triathlon.\u00a0 I will be slow at all of those things too.\u00a0 And I need to remind myself to not let it get me down.\u00a0 No one cares that I\u2019m slow.\u00a0 I shouldn\u2019t care either.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve noticed some interesting things while perusing running blogs as of late.\u00a0 While I don’t read blogs that have any sort of negativity towards slow runners (because I will not stand for that), I’ve noticed a sort of shame among us slow runners.\u00a0 And I’m guilty of it too. Here are some quotes that I’m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n