Something I'm Not Good At

Sometimes, I wish I had named my blog something a little more specific to my running talent, or lack thereof. Names like "Average Runner" or "Mediocre Runner" cross my mind. And of course, this is in no way a dig at people who see my paces and think they're "fast", because I've written ad nauseum about how "fast" is relative.

But I'm an honest person, and I know that I'm not particularly talented when it comes to running. Not naturally, at least.

The other day, I read this article, and this line really hit home: "I’m not used to being so passionate about something I’m not good at."

It's just human nature to feel passionate about things you're good at, isn't it? And if you're passionate, you work hard and you improve! But for many of us, running isn't really one of those things. We can work and work, yet there's still a threshold we can't seem to cross.

I'm not really that good at running...but I sure do love it.
I'm used to loving things partly because I'm good at them; most of my hobbies are talents that come easily to me. Running is a challenge every single time, and that makes it a totally different kind of a passion. I don't love it because I'm good at it; I love it because it challenges me, and each run allows me to feel empowered because I'm beating the odds just by being out there.

This year is my year of speed, and I intend to find a new comfortable pace that is (hopefully) back into what I consider fast for myself, but I'm also perfectly happy to be honest about my abilities. 

Do you have a passion for something you're not particularly good at?

ABK

Learning to Run Slow

"Slow" is relative. I'm a slower runner than 90% (or more) of the bloggers I follow. So when I hear from the experts that you should be making sure to run "slow" regularly, I tend to roll my eyes. My "normal" is slow. When I talk about "running slow" in this post, I mean "slower than my usual pace"; there's nothing wrong with whatever pace you're at.

Case in point, I hover at 10-minute miles when I'm running, and in the mid and low 9's when I'm racing shorter distances. Maybe someday I'll be faster, but for now, that's where I am and I'm happy with it.

The women on my Ragnar team fall on all points of the speed spectrum, making me "faster" than a handful of them. Lately, we've been running together on Monday nights, and I find I'm usually at the head of the pack. At first I was torn between running my own pace and sticking with the group, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I've really missed the social side of running.

Monday's run...I forgot how painless a run can be when you're just taking it easy!

 It's so nice to have a group of women to run with!

This Monday, I held back and made sure to really run with my teammates. It was one of the best runs I've had in a long, long time. If running slow is good for me and it allows me to spend time with these awesome women, then I'm going to run slow at least once a week. If nothing else, it can be my recovery day after weekend races or long runs.

In other news, the professional race pictures came back from the Turkey Trot. They aren't half bad!

Up the bridge, the photographer didn't catch me until after I'd waved, and Matt was cut out completely.

Coming down the bridge, I actually look like I'm enjoying myself!

What's your take on running slow? Do you find it difficult to do? 
How much attention do you pay to pace anyway? As someone who rarely races with a goal time in mind, I just like to run how my body and legs are feeling! Does that make me a bad runner?

ABK