The Un-Natural

Some people are born to do certain things.

Despite professing his love of golf, Mario Lemieux was made to be a hockey player.  BTW, while he's one of the greatest hockey players of all time, he was only mediocre at golf.

Ken Griffey Jr was said to have the perfect swing.  And nobody could argue that Samuel Wanjiru was not made to run.

Sure they train hard, but even if they didn't, they'd still be really, really, really good at their chosen profession.

I'm not like that at all.

My daughter said me that she was hoping she'd inherit my running ability.  I stopped that one dead on the tracks.

I had to break the truth to her... I said, "I'm not a great runner."

My running doesn't come natural for me... everything I do is a product of hard work and my learnings.  And just about the only thing she could hope to inherit from me is my math skills.

When it comes to running, I am like a sponge for information.  I am willing to try anything with eyes wide open.

My stride length, posture and foot strike have all been created by me in order to run better, faster, stronger.

I used to take longer strides, but found that by shortening them, I can actually run faster.

My posture doesn't feel normal as I push my hips a bit forward so that instead of propelling my legs, I'm merely catching myself from falling and in doing so, saving energy.

And yes, I've been a heel striker since the beginning of time (roughly 44 years) and now I find I'm trying to skim the surface by landing mid-foot instead.  Landing mid-foot has increased my cadence and roll over speed.

I know I'm a pretty good runner, but I'll never be a great runner... and that's ok.

Oh, and aside from math, the other thing I hope my daughter inherits from me is my drive, my drive to never ever give up when you're chasing a dream.