Fast Runners

I was running in the park the other day when a woman in the opposite direction called out to me,”You’re fast!”  It didn’t really matter what I thought my speed was, since I was certainly moving more quickly than the woman and her dog.  But I smiled and felt good.  I wasn’t doing speed work, but I felt decent, considering the humid conditions.  It is a 1.75 mile loop course, so she had seen me once or twice before proclaiming me to be fast.

Everything is relative
We’re all “fast runners” compared to slower ones…or compared to walkers…or compared to couch potatos!  It’s good for you to “feel” fast sometimes, especially if you know you’re really not.

I consider myself a decent runner since I sometimes have a chance at placing in my age group at 5K’s and I’ve qualified for Boston.  But there are lots of local people who are faster and the fastest of those can’t compete with nationally ranked runners, never mind the Kenyans and Ethiopians.

“He’s slow.  She runs at a good pace.  He’s really fast.”
Each of us uses our own pace as a benchmark.  We compare our speed to running buddies, in race results, and even by checking out numbers on race bibs to see if others have a “lower number”.  We subconciously consider slower paced runners as “slow”, those at our pace to be “medium” and those at a faster pace to be “fast”.  If we can’t hang with someone for even a few minutes, they’re “super fast” or “crazy fast”.

It just doesn’t matter.  Just run!
It’s helpful to know the comparative speed of running friends during group runs, so you can gather before or after and not have anyone feeling left out.  Just don’t worry about “slowing someone down” or being the last finisher among your friends.  You’re still miles ahead of the average Joe and therefore deserve to feel as fast as you want!

McCorq’s 5K Fun Run
To level the playing field, on of the leaders of my running club organizes an annual 5K where everyone’s start time is handicapped.  Slower people start first, with the fastest starting last (based on best 5K time run in the previous 12 months).  Theoretically, everyone would be finishing at around the same time and anyone could be the winner.  As you can imagine, the race is quite popular.  To make it even better, “everyone’s a winner” since participants are asked to donate prizes and there are always enough for everyone to get something.

Feel fast.  Enter a 5K and then wear your shirt proudly.