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March 07, 2006
Wimps
From today's NY Times Metro Diary:
Dear Diary:
Over dinner at our favorite local restaurant, my wife and I recently celebrated our 26th anniversary.
"You know, Barb," I said, "not many couples make it this long." Looking me dead in the eye, she said, "Wimps."
Dan Barron
Perfect. My parents recently celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary. If you had asked me when I was 10 I wouldn't have bet on their still being together today. It was impossible for me at the time to appreciate the deep commitment and affection that lay underneath their constant arguments. My parents come from different backgrounds and have widely divergent points of view (my mom being your standard NY liberal -- which I've been told means she's extremely liberal -- and my dad often being found nodding along with Rush Limbaugh). I'm sure they could have each chosen to marry someone with more similar background and sympathies to their own and perhaps have had an easier time of it, but they chose one another. And it works. They continually challenge one another, each making the other question and explore more deeply his/her convictions and opinions; this lends a vitality to their relationship that is probably lacking in many. It also lends a contentiousness to the relationship that sometimes masks to outsiders the depth of their feelings for one another; a contentiousness that were those feelings more shallow might have caused them to abandon the relationship well before the 39 year mark. I feel extremely lucky to have been the product of their relationship.
Growing up with two such dissenting points of view meant that I always had to consider carefully what I believed; no one told me to think one way or the other. Well, to be more precise, two people whom I respected equally told me to think exactly opposite things. It meant that I couldn't slip easily into my parents' belief system like a hand-me-down coat. I had to actually define my own belief system, from a pretty young age. It also meant that it was really difficult to see issues as black and white -- I tended to see the two poles represented by my parents and everything in between. Today, it means that some of my beliefs are a little schizophrenic but I know what they are and why I believe them, and at the same time I can also appreciate why others might believe something different.
What does that have to do with running? Absolutely nothing. Just something I was thinking about (because of the Metro Diary bit) while I was cruising along on the 'mill this evening. I was planning to do 8 easy (7:30 treadmill pace), but I felt as if I needed to keep moving after the 8, felt like stretching out. So I restarted the treadmill (it shuts off after an hour... or, rather, goes into extremely slow cool-down mode for 5 mins., then shuts off... I just press stop when it slows down) and did another 4 at 7:00 pace. It felt really good. Probably somewhere between Marathon and Tempo pace right now. Even though I'm not in shape to be doing my recovery runs at 7:00 pace, it always feels better to run at that pace than at a slower one; it's just more natural: my stride smooths out and everything just flows better.
Ok. Need to hit the hay.
Posted by alweiss at March 7, 2006 12:08 AM
Comments
I loathe running on the treadmill in the first place, but it drives me nuts how the treadmills at the gym are programmed to shut down after 30 or 60 minutes (depending on which one you find). I agree, that I feel more comfortable and natural running right around 7 minute pace, though I'm not always in shape to have that be my easy run.
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at March 7, 2006 06:56 PM