On Being a Turtle

Turtles are cute. But they are slow and some might say stupid. I don’t really know about the intelligence of turtles, but they routinely cross busy roads very slowly and that isn’t too smart.

Once I was working on a wastewater treatment plant construction project in Twenty-nine Palms, California. That’s the desert…we were miles from civilization inside the marine corps base. I was told that a certain endangered tortoise might wander by and if so, to NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER touch it. Apparently if you pick up these tortoises and turn them around they get so confused that they die.

That’s not very smart.

So anyway, when I started marathon training with Katy Fit last July, I joined the Red, full, 5:1 pace group. That means the group of people training for a full marathon who run pretty slow for five minutes, then walk for one minute, repeat. We got up to several ten mile runs and my speed increased to about an 11 minute mile on the back splits, which made me super happy.

Then when the half marathon I was supposed to run passed, I switched groups. I was never intending to run a full marathon, but I wanted to reach higher milage sooner than the people training for a half marathon. So in late October I switched to the half marathon group. I intended to stay at the 5:1 intervals but showed up early one week and found my friend Joe about to start running with the 3:1 group. They leave fifteen minutes earlier than the rest of the red group, so I figured I would join the 3:1 group at least for that week for an easy run.

That happens to be the week I fell flat on my face less than five minutes into the run. Skinned up both knees and both wrists, but I knew nothing was broken so I popped up at decided to keep running. Talk about an embarrassing introduction to a new running group! Eight miles later I was dripping blood but it was an easy and super enjoyable run for me. The pace and distance made it easier but the people and conversation really made it enjoyable.

So I decided to stick with this amiable 3:1 group of runners. There was only one small problem I had with them…they call themselves the Turtles. Specifically the Turtles on a Half Shell because they are training for a half marathon at the slowest of all the pace groups in our running club. (There is a slower group, the Purple walkers, but ironically some of the walkers are faster than some of the turtles.) So they say things like “Turtle power!” a lot. The only pace group in our club of 800 runners with a nickname.

I don’t like being known as a turtle. I don’t like being associated with the turtles. I do not brag about being incredibly slow. But I do love this group of people, so I guess I’m coming around.

If it weren’t for this injury that has set me back quite a bit, I might still resent being called a turtle.

But I’ve learned something in my incredibly challenging comeback from this injury. Slow and steady wins the race.

I know, I know, everybody says this. It’s easy to remember that little cliche. But it’s HARD to put into practice. Right now it has become my mantra. My injury sidelined me almost completely for a month. I’m having to get over the fact that I can’t run an 11 minute mile anymore. I have to do a real warm-up by walking for the first five or so minutes, and I have to stop mid-run and stretch my IT band in order to keep it from debilitating me.

So now I am fully owning the title of turtle, as I battle back in my pursuit of my first half marathon medal. I’m accepting right now that I may not even finish under three hours.

But I’m not giving up yet. I’ve been at this for twenty-three weeks. January 13th is the Aramco Houston Half Marathon and I intend to run it. As a turtle.