Slow and steady wins the race, right?

Here's a follow-up from yesterday's post.

The other day I treated myself to a regular trip to Nordstrom Rack to try on ridiculously expensive designer jeans. Naturally, though I was feeling thinner, the moon was conspiring against me.

Not to mention, my body still ached from my first 5 mile attempt.

And that morning, I got a reply from a friend, on learning my pace for that 5 mile, that really, I'm not jogging, it's more of a fast walk.

Oof.

Except that I know, despite my slow pace, I am technically jogging. In competitive speed walking, I recall people are disqualified for running, meaning having only one foot on the ground at a time. Even some of the beginning training programs I've found talk about your first jogging pace feels more like stumbling along as you work up your cardio ability.

I'm a bit sensitive, I know. I've dealt with a constant fear of not being good enough, and that translates both into competitiveness and defensiveness. At worst, it translates into me not even trying, or quitting before I really gave it a go.

The Tortoise and the Hare didn't teach me what it was meant to. At the end, I was never impressed with the Tortoise, though he won. He was dull, slow, lethargic and single minded. He was also smug. The hare, though a bit of an asshole, I saw as ultimately being an interesting character. He's overzealous, a bit of a braggart, but just seemed like more fun.

I'm hoping I'm neither - and that in the end, I'll be more whatever animal relishes in fartleks. Here's hoping.