It's Not A Competition Anyway
Monday, July 17, 2006

Today while I was running the back section of my out-and-back route, I heard the heavy footfalls of another pair of joggers coming up behind me, just as I reached the base of the final hill. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a middle-aged couple gaining on me, the woman's bleached hair tied in a high pony, the man's paunch heaving under his shirt. I'm not a strong runner - in the face of adversity I normally just pull over to the side a little and let the other runner pass. But today, for some reason, I just didn't want to be beaten.

I upped my pace. My arms started pumping like mad, my legs stretching out as far forward as they could go. My heart rate raced up to 192 beats per minute (only five beats short of the absolute fastest my heart can pump) and my breathing increased to a two-to-one-ratio. Their footsteps became softer, and after a while I heard the man say 'Ok, let's walk.' At the robot on the top of the hill, I panted hysterically as I waited for the light to turn green, grateful for the break. Here, the couple caught up to me. We avoided eye contact.

When the light changed, I dashed across the road, the couple behind me. Once again, the sound of their footsteps faded, until I could hear them no more. I assumed they'd turned up a side road, so as not to be further demotivated by my diminishing figure. Ha! Smug in my victory, I started to compose my blog post (originally entitled Eat My Dust) and slowed to admire the herd of gemsbok to my right (yes, I know: it is odd that there's a herd of these animals livng next to a main road in Pretoria East).

I don't know were they came from, but the next thing I knew, the couple came screaming past me. I had to turn up towards home, and so there wasn't time for me to overtake them again.

As I crossed the road, I saw them get smaller and smaller as they moved into the distance, a cloud of dust kicked up behind them.

Damn.

posted by Karen Little @ 6:15 PM,

20 Comments:

At 8:16 PM, Blogger arcadia said...

:-) i run in eastwood and i rarely, rarely pass other joggers. mostly i'm dodging the cars (i have to cross church street in rush hour traffic every afternoon) or ignoring the weird stares of passersby - i don't think i've ever seen another jogger run down pretorius street.

 
At 8:43 PM, Blogger michael said...

Hehehehe! Shame, Karen. Next time you see them, you'll just have to get your heart beating at that max level of 197 bpm!

Not a competition indeed... I say that when I fail to pull off faster than the rust bucket in the lane next to me at the robots. :P

 
At 10:07 PM, Blogger Croaker said...

It just goes to show, one can never drop their guard.

 
At 11:13 PM, Blogger ~d (tilde) said...

Karen-I so totally fell off the effing treadmill at the gym last week! I swear! I was sitting on my butt-LAUGHING! No one even LOOKED at me. Or if they did-they saw I was (haha) laughing and went on with their own how-d'ya do.

 
At 2:26 AM, Blogger ChickyBabe said...

Maybe they needed a moment to compose their next blog post! :P

 
At 3:43 AM, Blogger wreckless said...

I loved this post! I run very occasionally, but maybe because I am a male or maybe because I need to make running entertaining, I always play little race games with people. I recently ran a 5k and did awesome for me (with no training). I envy that you have wildlife so close and intense to you. Can or would you trail run? The part I liked best was finding humility in nature.

 
At 7:59 AM, Blogger Fitèna said...

lol! Exactly what Chickybae said!
I do that too - I did is more like it since I don't run anymore - targeting someone who am going to trie to beat. I don't remember winning!

Fitèna

 
At 9:33 AM, Blogger Karen Little said...

arc - running up Eastwood - ack! That's crazy... One day when I'm Very Fit, I'm going to run up Tom Jenkins, and then retire from running forever. I cross Church street at rush hour almost every afternoon as well - I'll keep an eye out for you! (I'm the one in the white Golf - can't miss me...)

mike - every time my heart does actually reach 197, the siight of the number flashing on my watch immediately causes my brain to cut off nervous supply to my legs, and I grind to a very drastic halt. And pulling off at robots is always a competition - it's totally a race to see who gets to the next one first, so that person can wait longest for it to change to green!

croaker - wise words, and welcome!

~d - Wendy has a post about this happening to a very hot guy on the treadmill next to her at gym! It must be hilarious to see.

chickybabe - these people didn't look cool enough to be bloggers... ;)

wreckless - I think the race game is a male thing... Actually, I'm just saying that because, you know, it's not a competition anyway... Actually, my greatest running goal is just to reach the finish line at the same time as my boyfriend does when we run 10k races. That would make me happy. I've never done trail running but I think it would be really really cool - a bit like mountain biking vs road biking? You've got far more fresh air and space to run, and the route itself would be far more scenic and interesting. I'll give it a go sometime.

fitena - I think it jinxes it when you target someone to beat - it's almost like you give psychically them the power to beat you. I prefer trying to find a time to beat... But I do admit, beating people gives me more satisfaction.

 
At 3:18 PM, Blogger The Electric Orchid Hunter said...

I stopped running a couple of years ago: people in cars kept stopping beside me, trying to pick me up because they felt sorry for me! That's when I stopped exercising in public.

PS: Karen, I think you should run down Tom Jones in Benoni before you retire. Tee-hee.

 
At 5:26 PM, Blogger Egan said...

Karen, this is hilarious. As a runner I see this sort of thing all the time. Either I'm the one in your shoes or watching someone panic as I approach. Competition is good, but what the hell is a gemsbok?

Is it bad to get my heart rate up to 225 beats/minute?

 
At 8:12 PM, Blogger EJ said...

Geez. Joggers. This weird semi-species recently discovered and brougth to civilsation by the cult of the american yuppie. Show me a smiling jogger and I might consider taking you up. Until then I will remain sternly set against getting healthy. Damn you all!

 
At 8:33 PM, Blogger Blonde Vigilante said...

Next time, baby, you'll get em next time.

 
At 8:41 PM, Blogger Karen Little said...

EOH - dude, don't make out like you exercise in private... And what if Tom jones is too fast for me? Then I'll be humiliated again... on the East Rand!

egan - this is a gemsbok. Your max is your max, buddy - if your heart can get up to 225 and your coronary arteries are still well perfused, then it's fine. If you get severe chest pain and vomit, however, call an ambulance.

ej - we jog because it's painful. Then we can bitch all about it. And we love bitching.

blonde - I know, I know.

 
At 9:12 PM, Blogger wreckless said...

I was telling my brother in law about this post and how cool it is to converse and learn about people and things happening in other parts of the world. I appreciated the pic of the gemsbok. I didn't know what it was either. I am also a little confused by the term "robot" is this just a traffic light, or is it something different?

 
At 9:15 PM, Blogger Viking054 said...

I take it 'robots' is local lingo for traffic lights? I like it :)

 
At 9:28 PM, Blogger Neil said...

Remember "The Tortoise and the Hare?"

 
At 9:54 PM, Blogger Karen Little said...

wreckless - yes, a 'robot' is a traffic light. I also think it's cool how we're all so far away, and yet have so much incommon, and can communicate so easily? It's brilliant.

viking - see above.

neil - you're right. They cheated by leaving clones of themselves further up the road. Bastards.

 
At 11:12 PM, Blogger Egan said...

Thanks for the picture. I feel so dumb now. I love the explanation of the max heart rate. Thanks.

 
At 1:00 AM, Blogger apprentice said...

Yay for the wrinklies!!! That paunch was turbo charged, or maybe he was a human camel.

 
At 8:16 AM, Blogger Candace said...

Bloody Ninja joggers!

I suck at distance running. :-P

 

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