A flashback to track

I've been drinking the cool aid as far as running goes. Lots of easy miles. Seems to be working as I have seen run fitness improvement, however it has taken a while to get myself to slow down. I did continue doing some intervals and tempos but now with my build for IMFL and considering most of my runs are done at over 100 heat index, I'm mostly going slow.

This morning I had a 12 miler and I've figured out the best way to keep my pace easy is to listen to some chill music. So I'm chugging along, enjoying the scenery (it's amazing how much more enjoyable a run can be when you're just chilling out) running around a lake and I see a high school track team (or "club" I guess, since it's summer) is finishing up their warm ups. Since they're there, I'm assuming they're going to do some repeats around the lake. I jog on past them and one kid gives me a "good job man" I smile and say "thanks". He's probably like, "dang that old guy is going slow." Anyway, as expected, I hear (or maybe feel) the stampede coming from behind me. First it's the guys, from fastest to slowest, then the girls (I think they 'released' them second because there were some girls at the front that were faster than the guys at the back). The girls, one by one, pass me as I continue to plod along listening to radiohead's ok computer (or maybe it was the bends). Then I hear sound that takes me way back...hugely labored breathing of a struggling soul. Here she comes, the last kid on the team, just absolutely killing herself to keep up, but still falling behind. I hear her behind me for about 30 seconds and figure this kid needs a win, so I slow down a bit to let her at least pass someone. She does, and I say something like "looking strong" or whatever. But man did that take me back.

That was totally me. I joined the track team freshman year simply because my coordination was so bad that endurance sports were the only option. I was a skinny kid, so I must be good at running I tell myself. Well….I'm not. I spent every practice with my heart beating out of my eyes in zone 5 ever falling away from the pack. I lost every single race that year. Dead last on every one. We even had a couple meets where there were so few people they made it coed…and I still lost, was beat by every guy and every girl. I never went back to track and trust me…my coach didn't mind (ok...probably didn't notice). That's when I switched to swimming. I figured there were less people in swimming so I had a better shot (less competition). I was still terrible though. I finally got kind of good half way through senior year, but that was after plugging away summers and winters for four years. Never made it past the district level meet, and only got one partial scholarship offer from some tiny school in Virginia or some place that'd I'd never be able to afford the remaining tuition for. So that was the end of that until I started running (plodding) at 30. It took 4 years of plodding along to register my first sub 20 minute 5k.

I guess this is just a shout out to all the non-gifted athletes. I sure hope that girl sticks with it. I have found that as terrible and non-naturally gifted I am at the start, if I relentlessly continue my body will begrudgingly react after a couple years. I'm guessing a lot of other people are like that too. It's just hard when you see the people for whom it comes so naturally.

So here's to the mediocre among us! The folks who, when asked, high school coaches were quoted as saying "who?". The participation award winners and the never scouted!