My friend Josh Rosenberg has only been running for a few years, but he’s the fastest guy I know. He ran a 4M race at a 7:57 pace this year. When he posted that on fb, I thought it must be a typo! (Sorry Josh – but really?) Really.
What makes Josh’s story so interesting is that he started running, like I did, with a poor baseline fitness level. He says he’d get on the treadmill and run at 3.3 mph. (For perspective, I now power walk at 4.0 mph and start my running at a speed of 5.0 mph.) Today, Josh starts the treadmill at 6.9 mph and cranks it up from there. That’s an amazing transformation and, for me, so inspiring!
I struggle with speed. Mine’s improving, but so slowly. I like the idea of going faster on my short runs but feel like my strength lies in going the distance. I’ve got fortitude, endurance, and determination as core personality traits and I guess those transfer to running and help me “keep going.” Josh must have totally different core traits that support his explosive power because he hasn’t gotten into doing distances the way I have; the longest race he’s done to date was 10K.
Isn’t it interesting how running shows you who you are, and who you are not – at least not yet. I like to think about why people develop differently, and how running is an extension of that experience. Talking with role models like Josh gives me ideas about how I might work at growing beyond my natural inclinations. And Josh tells me he's thinking about doing some longer distances. There’s really no limit to the number of ways one can slice up this physical-cerebral experiment.
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