On this morning's jog, I set out hoping that stupid portable radar sign that measures passing vehicles' speeds would still be there. It was. I was jogging at my usual 6 mph. I saw it around the corner, taunting me with its flashing "6." It wouldn't win this time, I thought to myself as my legs started pumping faster ...
The sign flashed 6 ... 9 ... 11 ... 10 ... 12 ... faster, dang it! ... 13 ... 12 ... 13 ... whoosh! I passed the sign and have come to one little conclusion.
Thirteen miles per hour must be my sound barrier. I don't think I could have gone any faster – lest the sign is lying to me and I was actually doing 45. That's what it felt like at any rate when my heartrate shot through the roof and I found it hard to breathe. It's my sound barrier because I had a vision of Chuck Yeager, who flew down from the clouds and told me, "Ease up on the throttle, son, and you'll do just fine." Then he told me that if I wanted genuine GM parts to see Mr. Goodwrench.
Really, 13 miles per hour isn't that bad, I think. There's no way I can outrun a cheetah. Really, I'm just trying to keep a few steps ahead of that fat butt that's trying to catch me. For me, that's what running (and bicycling and whatever other exercises I end up doing) is all about.
Congratulations on breaking 12! Whenever you write about jogging it makes me want to exercise more.
Okay, so it makes me want to exercise, period.
How do those things work. I wish I could see how fast I run. My breaking the speed barrier would look like 3.5...4...5...6 Oh yeah, then I'd fall down becasue my legs are so short and any faster than six and I'd trip.
13 - awesome. I walk a lot - outside and treadmill, and I'm happy with 4mph. Jogging is just out for me.
Remember the intro clip to the Six Million Dollar Man? (Or nowadays, we get the Bionic AOL yellowman.) I got a mental image of Lee Majors and the bionic man when I read this post ;-)
Wow - 13 mph? Damn, boy! Now that makes me want to find a sign to jog by and clock myself!
The only one I see regularly is at a toll booth -- where we I-Pass holders (can't remember what we called them in Texas -- those toll pass thingies?) can breeze through the booth at 5 mph. But, seeing that this is in the middle of a busy highway just outside of O'Hare, that's probably a really bad idea. Damn...
Must scout *speed trap* zones in my burb -- or ask one of the officer friendly guys on my regular running route to clock me with his radar gun -- but then there's this whole pressure thing, subjective clocking? Hmmmm...
Food for thought... Thanks for the idea!
Hey Look! I can post comments again? Looks like my hotmail address is not *the pariah* anymore? WooooHOOO!