Walking on a bright morning on the last day of March was brilliant!
I walked with a few folks who are getting back into a training routine after some time off. It seemed that we had fallen far behind our former pace and would never regain our speed; that all we had gained was lost. We started sharing our stories of when we had first begun – how difficult it was to build our distance and our speed. We laughed at memories of wondering if we could ever walk a brisk 5K, let alone finish a marathon.
On reflection, I know I’ll never do another marathon; maybe not even another half. We’ll see. But I also know I’m in better shape than I was when I started down this path ten years ago. Ten kilometres is now a pleasant walk, not a distant goal. My pace is slower than it was when I was training for long races but still better than the woman I was when I began.
As is our wont, we soon moved on to other topics: the news of the day, family life, plans. And discovered when we finished that, without too much effort, our pace had been 10.6 minutes per kilometre. Not a personal best for any of us but certainly a pace that could be shaved into respectability, since we weren’t pushing hard. And certainly, one that the woman ten years ago would have been astounded to achieve.