Saturday, May 31, 2008

The woman in blue jeans wins the race

Went for a walk today at my favorite park. There's a stretch of paved road that runs through it. 1.8 miles one way. I walk up and back.

Today a woman passed me. She was wearing jeans with snaps on the back pockets and a pretty pink shirt. Man, was she fast. It didn't even look like she was breaking a sweat. Just casually swinging her arms and leaving us all in the dust.

Here I am in all my "exercise" gear - sweatpants, t-shirt, sports bra, my walking sneakers. And she looks like she just left her house to go pick up milk at the store and thought, "Hmmm, maybe I'll go walk 4 miles."

She inspired me to walk faster. I have a tendency to stroll. This time I walked fast the whole way. On the way back, I kept her in sight, but she still kept putting more distance between us. I timed myself and did the math and I did a 15 minute mile pace.

It's funny how you get an image of someone from just a small encounter. All she did was walk past me and wear jeans. And for some reason I think that she is one of those people who is skinny because of all the nervous energy she carries around. And she spends too much time in the sun. And at some point in her life she was involved with jet skis. I picture her going home, lighting up a cigarette and drinking cup after cup of bitter, black coffee.

I'm sure I am wrong. She probably goes home to eat granola and turn her compost pile.

No comments: