so the big question was: who can run a 5K faster?
talent vs. training?
male vs. female?
ME VS. JOSH?
in one corner, we have joshua: a nearly-6′ tall male, a former college cross-country and track athlete with actual running talent who sadly doesn’t have much time for such things anymore. if he gets in one run a week — well, then it’s been a good week. he does get lots of time on his feet on a daily basis, but in scrubs, not shorts. does running to answer pages count as cross-training?
in the other, we have me: a mere 11 inches shorter, and no Y chromosome to be found. also, no real athletic or running talent, but with brute-force dedication galore. no taper, but with consistent running spanning the last several years (with exceptions made while injured, of course).
so, over the course of a 5K challenge, who prevailed?
as a future endocrinologist, i was not surprised to see that hormones (and genes) reigned supreme. ie, josh kicked my bootie. but not by much! the course was very hilly (duh, i should have known. it’s not called chapel flat, after all) and the last mile was mostly UP — quite painful! but i did the best i could and was surprised and pleased to see 23:17 on the clock as i finished (i don’t have my chip time yet). without adjustment for chip time, that’s 5 seconds off of my previous PR! i’m definitely happy with how things went.
josh finished 50 or so seconds ahead of me. the gap is closing . . . give me a few more years to train (and for him to not) and maybe i’ll catch up. or not.
now, we’re off for some more sporting fun — we are going to cameron indoor to watch duke beat miami!! at least, i hope so.
2 Comments
having the benefit of knowing the final score I can only say I don’t need a cardiac stress test this year.. that game was enough to know my coronaries are good.
Hope you enjoyed it. Beat Carolina!
It’s so unfair, isn’t it? Congrats on the PR though!