I'm going to get beat by a girl. And no, I'm not OK with that.

At last count I think we have 10 people from Pathway doing the sprint triathlon on Thanksgiving Day. I'd be surprised if there's another church with that many people entered and I know there isn't a church with a greater percentage signed up. But after talking to some of the others I've come to realize that I have 10th place securely in hand and that I'm going to get beat by not one, but probably four girls.
This puts me at risk of some serious experience-induced depression. I can accept that I'm getting older, and that I am, as the sports commentators put it when talking about athletes like Farve, "a step slower." But the thought of being encouraged across the finish line by girls who have not only already finished, but had time to fix snacks for their kids and do their nails, well, that may be more than my masculinity can take.

I think my best course of action at this point may be a training injury. A sprained ear, a stress fracture of my knee cap, knots in my shoe laces.

Today was the first ride on my bike with the new tires. I was surprised that I could feel the difference. They run 100 psi instead of the 120 psi of the old tires, but roll easier. Harder compound.
But I need your help on something. I am BAD at math; it hurts my head. (Hey! A sprained brain from doing math!) So figure this one out for me.
The old tires were 700 x 23's and the new set is 700 x 25's. That means that the height of the tire, the distance from the bead to the surface of the tire, is 2 mm greater on the new tires. The result is a larger circumference. I knew that when I bought them, so I paid particular attention to my readout at the end of today's route. I couldn't have told you when I started whether the route would come in longer, shorter or the same. But what measured 12.2 miles on the old tires came out today at 12.0 miles. That's OK; I don't really care about the distance that much. What I do care about is my average speed over any given route. So, if today's route now measures at 12.0 instead of 12.2, is the average speed readout going to be faster or slower than it was on the old tires?
This matters! I was surprised at what it said was my average speed this morning. I won't tell you whether I was pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised. You tell me.

And that two-tenths of a mile difference as a result of a 2mm larger tire got me to thinking about my run. It dawned on me that there are two ways to increase my speed/decrease my running times. I can either run faster - more strides per minute - or lengthen my stride. Just like the 2mm larger tire. How many strides do I take per mile of running? I have no idea and I'm not going to count. So for the sake of discussion let's say it's an even 1,000 strides.
If I increased my stride by 2" per stride the savings would amount to 167 feet over the course of a mile. That's 55 yards. Even at "a step slower," or maybe especially at a step slower, that's a significant reduction in elapsed time. At my age it takes me two or three minutes to run 55 yards.
So how do I lengthen my stride? I'm working on that one. More arm motion? Higher heel kick? Focusing on a longer stride?
Then it hit me...bigger shoes!! Instead of a size 10 shoe I buy an 11, or even a 12. That puts the front of my shoe further out in front on each stride. Over the course of a mile that works out to a good 15 to 20 seconds saved!

Sometimes I amaze even myself.