Wannabe Wednesday and Some Pie

There's always going to be someone faster who you can look to for inspiration (unless of course you're Paula Radcliffe).  For the most part I'm inspired by everyday runners instead of professionals, because I mean, hey - I'd expect you to be fast if that's your job.  Ironically enough, though, I'd like to write my inaugural [that it hard to spell!] "Wannabe Wednesday" post about one Ms. Paula Radcliffe.

First things first, though:  Okay, so where did I leave off on my last post?  Oh, right...I'm soooooooo competitive and going to outrun Neil....who saw that I had pulled into the lead and texted me:

"I would appreciate it if you took the next two days off from running.  Thanks." 

"Heh...heh...heh...in the bag," I thought, haughtily, before cranking out another 4 miles to seal the deal.  Turns out Neil is competitive, too.  He came up with six and a half miles [I didn't even know he runs that far!] the last day of competition to win it.   Mmmm....humble pie....so delish...

Back to my Paula love fest.  I couldn't be more excited to cheer Paula on in the London Olympics this summer [NYC friends - plan on me hosting a viewing party to cheer her on...don't worry, it takes her a LOT less time to run the marathon than me], so I'll start off my Wannabe Wednesday posts by paying homage to  the marathon world record holder.

Paula partying with wine like we will at the marathon viewing/cheering party.  Just kidding...sort of...
Thanks for Owen for giving me permission to use his photo!

In case you're thinking, "Gee...way to pick the world record holder as your favorite / most inspirational runner,"  hold your horses.  I didn't just randomly join the Paula bandwagon for some arbitrary reason like "she's #1."  My reasons are better than that:

1. I really like her attitude towards running versus life.  Obviously she's pretty stinking dedicated, but I really like the stance she took on not wanting to put her life on hold to have children because it might interfere with her bid for a gold medal in London.  No one has a crystal ball, and even if she had put off having kids, that didn't guarantee she'd win the Olympics.  I imagine that couldn't have been an easy decision for such a competitive person, but it sounds like she has her priorities straight:  winning gold but missing her biological chance to have a second kid wouldn't have been worth it to her.  Not that I'm all gung-ho on motherhood or anything, but I just think it's nice to see someone who seems to think rationally about her work-life balance.   
2. How cute is she????  Did you see the pics of her holding her daughter after winning the NYC marathon???? (okay, maybe that's not the best reason to like her)
3. She won the NYC marathon the first year I remember watching it and the excitement from watching that race is what got the pot stirring that maybe I should start trying to qualify for the race, too.  

Thanks, Emma, for letting me use your picture!!  

So...it's Wednesday and I Wannabe like Paula (and Emma, who can apparently run a sub 5 minute mile and got to run with Paula - so cool!!) .  I took her speedy inspiration to the gym with me tonight and decided to try to see how fast I could run a mile.  Mile completed in 8:40 on 2/29/12 [Happy Leap Day everybody!].  That's my goal to beat for 3/31/12, when I'll try a go at another fastest mile.