During my 20s and into my 30s, I had a recurring voice telling me "you're so slow". It was the voice of my brother. I've never been one to just 'up and go' anywhere. There was always a process leading up to any departure and a last minute scramble to grab something I had overlooked. My brother just happened to be close enough to me to notice and comment........repeatedly. Over the years, I have somewhat compensated for this reality by living with a planner close by my side and referring to it continuously, and by leaving way earlier than anyone in their right mind would need to leave for an event/meeting/appt. But if there's a need or opportunity to drop everything and run, I'm still caught flatfooted and my tortoise ways kick in once again.
Here are some other ways I've displayed tortoise-like qualities............
RUNNING.........I have loved running for over 30 years now. As someone who grew up with asthma, this hobby/passion is somewhat of a miracle, but also comes with some fundamental limitations- lack of ease and lack of speed are two of them. I helped to coach high school country running for a half dozen years or so, and found out early that I could not keep pace with any of the more competitive runners, even on a casual training run. So my point of comparison has always been with previous runs and workouts that I've run myself. I've only had one timed mile that went under 6 minutes and that was light years ago (26 years, to be exact). I can't even say that I 'jog' anymore. At best, I plod. You don't believe me? Here are some actual comments I've had directed to me on the bike path while running in the past couple of years...........
One woman coming the other direction saw me running as best as I could down the path and said kindly "well I guess you've got to start somewhere"
A man passed me and said "slow and steady, huh?"
Another woman saw me lumbering and felt the need to shout "Come on, you can do it! You're looking great!" Mind you, I was not running in a race, I was merely dragging my body down the bike trail on a weekend. Her exhortation reminded me of the cries I've heard in road races directed at straggling runners bringing up the rear who looked like they had no business competing in a race of any kind.
There was a man who I was actually passing on the bike trail while running one day (it doesn't happen often!). He looked over at me and said (I kid you not) "God, I can't believe you're passing me, YOU OLD MAN!"
Need more proof? One of our neighbors asked my wife earlier this year if I was okay. She went on to mention that she had seen me running up a nearby hill in the community and thought I was about to have a heart attack. Hmmm, if she thought I was having a heart attack, couldn't she have stopped and asked if I needed help, or at least dialed '911'? Since that revelation, I try to make it a point to smile while running up hills. I believe it causes less alarm in passersby.
Need one more.....how about an observation from my own wife? She confessed to me one day that she drove onto our street and saw me running on the side of the road with our 8 year old daughter. Our daughter's natural running style is regrettably akin to my own. My wife told me that her first thoughts were "oh, isn't that sweet. That old man is running with that special needs child".
The most recent example came from an elderly woman who lives on my street. I saw her at the grocery store and she commented on having seen me run by her house recently. She then went on to pantomime a slow-motion running motion. I asked her 'am I that slow?' She shook her head and replied, without hesitation, "You run like an old man".
