The Challenge

The challenge was thrown down late last night. I was talking to Jason about how I was disappointed in my time after running a mile yesterday. He started reliving the glory days and shared with me how in eighth grade he was on the track team and ran the 400 in exactly one minute, six seconds. He then proceeded to boldly proclaim that he was SURE he could now run the mile in less than 8 minutes. He chose 8 minutes as the benchmark for this proclamation because that is always my goal when I run the mile, and I have only done it once this winter.

I told him there was NO WAY he could run the mile in less than eight minutes. Convinced that he could with NO PROBLEM, the challenge was born.

Elizabeth was already going to be playing basketball at the gym at 1:30 today, so we decided that then would be the best time to run the mile. 10 laps around the inside track at the recreation center was all he would have to do...in less than 8 minutes. While no official wager was set for this challenge, he said that if he was able to do this, then he should be able to get an IPhone, no questions asked. I don't think I even stated what I would want should I win the bet, but the satisfaction of him not being able to do it would be enough for me. I'm a very supportive wife, but the thought of my husband being able to get up off the couch with no training and beat my time in the mile after I have been running the last few months was very discouraging.

The excuses started on the way home from church. He said he was going to be too full after eating a big Sunday lunch. Since we had to be at the gym at 1:30, his lunch wasn't going to have a chance to "settle." He said after he ran the mile, he was going to be too sore and would probably have to sit in the recliner the rest of the day. I didn't doubt it, but too bad, the time and place had already been set.

We arrived at the track precisely at 1:30, kitchen timer in hand to time the big event. Sweatpants and sweathirt were stripped off. Our five year old sat by me on the bench, ready to witness this spectacle. There were a few obligatory stretches. Then he went to the starting line. He asked me to call out his time after each lap, and I said I would. And he was off.

He started off at quite a rapid pace. If he could keep this up for 10 laps, he was going to have no problem breaking eight minutes. After one lap I called out "30 seconds." At this rate he was going to run the mile in 5 minutes. The second lap I could tell his pace was slowing a little, but as he finished the second lap, I called out "one minute, five seconds." I was starting to get a little nervous. Maybe he would be able to do it. But then about 1/4 lap into the third lap, he stopped suddenly, turned around with a smile, and said, "There's no way."

Ahh, I guess there is some benefit to training. Curious to see how well I could run since I was now so inspired, I had Jason set the timer to 8 minutes and I decided to see if I could beat the challenge. Wanting to impress my five year old and my husband, I did run pretty good, but after 9 laps I was at 7 minutes, 25 seconds, and I knew there was no way I could run the last lap in 35 seconds. Oh well, at least I didn't bet an Iphone on it.