Smile -- Even When Your Run Slowly

June 8, 2013

Today I am 194.8 pounds of rolling thunder.

I smiled this week when I rolled through the slowest 3 miles I've ever recorded. I'm sure my time, which was just north of 40 minutes, wasn't the slowest I've ever run, but it's the slowest I've gotten an official time for.

I smiled because it was the first time in weeks that I didn't stop to walk. I rolled up and down the neighborhood hills without taking a walking break. I also hit all five stop lights along the familiar loop at just the right time, so there was no standing or jogging in place, just pure running.

And although my time was really slow -- maintaining my hold on my ranking as the world's slowest human -- it was good to know that I could still get around the course without taking a walking break. Now, would I like to be able to do more? Who wouldn't?

I'm convinced that you lay down muscle memory as a kid, and that helps you in later life. I wasn't a distance runner as a youngster, so I skipped that portion of my training life. At that time I'd rather sprint than jog, and the thought of running mile after mile for no good reason seemed really boring -- really, really boring.

At least that's my excuse for being the world's slowest human. That and an extra 20 pounds that I'd love to loan some other carbohydrate-sucking mammal as I strive to make myself healthier and just a little bit faster.

But for now, being able to do the neighborhood loop without a stop is pretty good. And a couple of days later I did it again -- OK, this time I walked five steps and hit one light on red and had to jog in place. But my time went south of 40, and hopefully I can keep rolling over all the hills.

Who knows, it's been a while since I've seen 35 minutes, but maybe it will be in me at some point. The main thing I hope is that I can keep enjoying my run and limit the amount of walking that I do.

So if you see the world's slowest runner out walking, give me a wave, it will remind me to get my wheels moving again.