Let's get something straight: I'm not tall, I've never been tall and I will soon be overshadowed by the height of my children. As my 5 year old son likes to point out, "Mom, I'm getting taller every day and by the time I'm 7, I'll be as tall as YOU!" Ah, the exaggerations of an enthusiastic, competitive son. He likely won't make it that far by 7, but I'm sure he'll be there by 11. On a good day, I measure at 5'4.5" (and sometimes round up to 5' 5", you know, to keep it easy). But that doesn't mean I can't FEEL tall.
I think my self-perception stems from two life experiences:
1. I married a man who is 6' 4" on a short day. Just hanging out with him makes me feel tall, except when he reaches the things on the top shelf for me.
2. Runners who pass me tend to be tall. Including that tall husband of mine. (Or at least, he USED to pass me.)
So now that I'm becoming a stronger runner, I'm feeling taller. If I'm passing runners who are tall, then I must be tall, right? It FEELS that way to me. Until I get home and see in the mirror that I haven't grown at all, except for the improved posture and more confident twinkle in my eye. Yup, running makes me feel tall - and I like it.
Some of you were wondering how the Mercer Island 10K went on Sunday. Birthday Girl Christine and I didn't quite make her goal, but considering we underestimated the power of the hills (climbs at the start of each mile - AND, here's the kicker . . . a final climb to the finish line!) our finish in under 55:00 was strong. At an average pace of 8:45, I can't complain. And after today's 4 miler in the sunshine where I kept slipping into a 7:30 pace . . . Holy cow, did MY legs really do that? . . . I think that race was a good base-line for the season. And since I'm taller now (haha), I should be able to keep up the speed, right? We'll see in June when I do the Duvall Days 10K.
How about YOU? How does running make YOU feel?
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3 comments:
what's funny is that most of the people who pass me are shorter!!
Running makes me feel alive though...it's my favorite thing!
You are mighty Tall! From what I know of you through FB and the blog... you are perfect for your size. I can see you zooming along all the ankles of those giant 6'10 runners turning your feet over twice as fast as them. 7:30, wowzers. Running those hills put some pep in your step. Bring on Duvall!
I've been a runner for 20 years and am only 5' 1''! I've always thought that shorter people can run faster and more efficiently because we are closer to the ground.
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