Twice a week I run. Usually I start at about 7 am at a local high school track, and do laps around their quarter mile loop. Today I ran 10 laps, equalling 2.5 miles. My goal is to add a half-lap everytime I go, so that I eventually can run 8 miles. That's my goal, as well as running in the Peachtree Road Race before age 40, and completing it in under 1 hour. Not too lofty a target, but significant and satisfying for me.
This morning as I rounded into the end of lap 8, I noticed a group of high school girls about a half-lap behind me. Panic gripped me as I considered the possibility of being passed by girls. I immediately kicked into another gear and kept them at a safe distance behind me. I couldn't help but notice that some of them had started to walk after less than one lap. I slowed down and finished lap 10. Success! From there I started my final cooldown lap (walking) before going back to my car. The ladies had begun another lap and I could hear their coach chiding them for not being able to keep up with a 31 year old woman who had given birth 4 weeks ago. That made me smile. And made me feel a little prouder for keeping myself in shape as I close in on my fourth completed decade. Youth is wasted on the young indeed.
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