A Conversation with Myself

Interesting when you catch an unexpected glimpse of yourself...

As I entered the gym today I noticed that they were holding an indoor triathlon of some kind. In the treadmills were 3 guys lined up running. One was at 7.8 mph, one was at 8.2mph and the third one I don't recall noticing the speed. But I thought to myself, these guys don't seem to be going that fast, but I don't ever run at 7.8! How fast is that?

And off I went to do some stretching since all the 10+ treadmills were busy (raining outside...). I stretched for a while then pondered whether I should still fit in a run before heading back to work. I decide on an easy 3-miler.

I step on the machine, adjust all the buttons, plug in the earphones and start running. I go out at a 9 min/mi pace, pretty comfortable. I start getting bored, I increase to an 8:40 pace, OK, then a bit more to 8:20. So much for an easy run... I'm probably half way through at this point. I move to 8:12, then 8:00, almost done. I go to 7:53 and since I'm there anyway I go up a notch more to finish the next .4 of my now 3.5 mile run at a 7:47 pace. And that's pretty close to 7.8mph!

I guess the 7.8/8.2mph of the triathletes stuck to my mind...Is this healthy competition? They were long gone by then, but OK they helped me run a bit faster. Nothing like a little challenge...

Then getting ready to step down from the treadmill I notice I never turned on the TV for the earphones! I had them on for 30 minutes without a peep coming from them. I guess the voices in my head were pretty loud today on this quest for the 7.8---