The Chances

Oh man, I just have to share this one with everyone.

This morning was my church's Men's Breakfast, and of course my pastor was there. We've done some hiking together (Half Dome, Lassen), and I've known him for YEARS. I think I met him about 15 years ago.

He's been a runner for years and years. He punctuates a lot of his sermons relating them to running, that sort of thing, and I always looked at him as an authority on the subject. When I first started running, I went to him for advice on where to get the best shoes.

So anyway, I told him a while back about the 5k I'm doing tomorrow, but it's on a Sunday which really rules it out for him. There's another one coming up in two weeks, so he said he wanted to do it with me. No problem there, I gave him the details, and he got signed up.

OK, so the Men's Breakfast. I picked up my packet for the 5k yesterday, so I brought it along for him and everyone else to see. We got talking about it, and he proudly announced to me that he ran 5k for the first time the other day. First time? So I asked him, how long did it take? He tells me 34 minutes.

My eyes got big as it dawned on me that he runs slower than me. The guy who's been running 10 times longer than me runs slower and shorter than me? I was confused! I still look at my run as a shuffle, and as I told him today, I feel like a slug as I move along.

I was (and am) dumbfounded. I mean, I realize he's older than me (by about 16 years), but still. He definitely outpaced me on Half Dome, so shape is not an issue. He's in great shape. He wants to go running with me next Saturday morning, which I happily said yes to.

A few other people showed up, and he really made me self conscious. Our Men's Camp is coming up the first weekend of May, and every year he runs on Saturday morning. The past few years, he's invited others to join him. Last year I wanted to join him but I didn't get to go because of my mother's health. Anyway, said to this one guy Russell, "Russ, Russ... THIS (pointing at me) is the guy! He's gonna lead us on our run at Men's Camp!"

Wow. :)