Go ahead, make my day!

Okay, remember this lady? Well, I meant to blog about a discussion with another stranger at the track that totally makes up for that one, but I'd forgotten about it, until seeing the same gentleman there again this past Thursday. He totally made my day last week!

I was there with my StrollerFit class (which I also really love, it's offered through Belly Buttons, and the instructor, Trish, is awesome. She's going to do the EndurRACE 8K with me in April.*) Trish works us in intervals: we do a lap of the track, and then some weight work with resistance bands, or lunges, or crazy-butt-working-kick-things. The point is, we run a lot. (Well, not everyone runs - you go at your own level.)

ANYWAY! I had just finished a lap, and an elderly gentleman came up and said to me that he just had to ask: had I ever raced track seriously? He said that I had a fantastic running stride. He told me that he used to be a track coach, and that I had great form - good leg turnover, a long stride, keeping my head level, and making it look effortless. After joking that I'm glad he thought it looked effortless, I told him I'd actually been really working on my form, so he had just made my day. He told me he was at the track training to do a 10K run with his daughter this summer, so I'm sure we'll see him again. Jake liked him too - he had a big smile for him again when we saw him there again this week.

I've actually been working really hard to lengthen my stride, (it's easy to shuffle your feet when you get tired, and then I lose all the benefit of having long legs!) and keep my head up, and steady (legs doing all the work of moving me horizontally, instead of wasting effort in bobbing up and down. Think of the marathoners you see in the Olympics - the girls' ponytails don't even swish!) By concentrating on form, I'm doing the same distance with less effort - running upright with a longer stride, I cover more ground in fewer steps. (Um, this is the theory, anyway. It still FEELS like a lot of effort, but the math works.) But it's hard to evaluate myself, so it was super great to be complimented like that. (And honestly, this man had to be in his seventies. He was not hitting on me. Or maybe he was, I guess you never know, but I'm still taking the running compliment at face value.) Am superwoman running goddess. Go me. :)

* Yep, I'm all signed up for the EndurRACE: 5K on April 18, and then 8K on April 25. Both races at 6 p.m. - come cheer for me, locals! ;)