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• Sunday, November 4, 2007 09:40 AM

  Slow and competitive are not mutually exclusive.

  I love running. I love pushing my body to its own limits, setting long-term goals, and using the competitive atmosphere of a race to put myself to the test. For me it isn't enough just to finish -- I want to out-do what I've done before, and place as high as I possibly can.

  Here's the catch: I'm a slow runner. I am not biomechanically gifted, and it's as simple as that. As much as I'd love for my slow twitch muscle fibers to be replaced by fast ones, there's currently no way that's going to happen. I've stretched my lungs as far as their VO2 max will go, and while speed training and hill workouts have improved my pace somewhat, I've accepted the fact that the only way I will ever qualify for Boston is if I'm able to maintain my current pace for the next forty years.

  There are those of us who aren't great athletes but who still love the sport of distance running. I might only be able to break 4:30 on a good day, but I continue to work diligently toward that goal. Perhaps more importantly, the marathon is one of the only things I've ever done in my life content in the knowledge that I'm not going to be the best at it. What I do know is that competition in races makes me a better runner.

  So, because I'm passionate but slow, should I stop running, to make more room for the "real" runners out there? I agree that the democratization of the marathon has perhaps diminished the impact of a marathoner's achievement, but please don't equate pace with intention. I may be a back-of-the-pack runner, but I compete through every moment of every race.

  —lynn Read lynn's other letters
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