92% Slacker

Brandon and I were up early on Saturday for a long run.
Before coming to Eugene I had never really been on a long run. I ran in high school and since have done a few 5K's here and there, but I had never gone more than 5 or 6 miles. Taking it up a notch has taught me a lot about myself.
One thing that has come as a surprise is the way that a run is like a ride in the car. To me, no matter how far I go, it seems like it is as far as my patience will extend. It takes us about 2 hours to get to Portland and I notice that just as we are pulling in my back will start to ache and my legs decide that they can't sit still any longer. When I can finally get out I feel that I couldn't have spent another second cooped up. But, when we are headed back to Utah the ride takes us around 13 hours and when we pass Portland I wave and smile and continue driving with no problem. That is how it is with running. On Saturday we went 20 miles. When we passed the 5 mile point I recognized that I had barely gotten started and happily trotted along. This morning when I had a goal of 3 miles my legs started whining before I even crossed our porch.

It makes me wonder if deep inside myself lives a natural slacker.

I know that I am not the kind of slacker that just sits around and watches T.V. all day because I do make goals for myself. But, once I have the goal, I do as little as I possibly can and still accomplish it. If I have to run 10 miles, I do it, and not one step more. If my goal is to run 3 miles, the second that my Nike tracker says that 3 miles are completed I will stop in my tracks. I will walk the rest of the way home no matter where I am once I hear the voice-over in my i-pod that says "Congratulations, workout completed."
Another example was that as I student with a goal to get straight A's I would end up with exactly 92% which is the borderline between an A and an A-. Sometimes it backfired like in my Algebra class sophomore year when I was lucky to pull off the A-.
Skeptics may scoff and believe that an A- is still a good grade, but they would be missing the point.
I have no reason to be this way because I come from a long line of hard workers. My parents and their parents are the go-the-extra-mile types. If you don't believe me you should watch my dad clean the bathtub. If there was an Olympic event in scrubbing soap scum he would make it to the metal podium. I won't say that he'd get the gold because I've heard that those Austrians are pretty mean cleaners, but I definitely think he'd be a contender.
I am also married to Brandon who goes above and beyond in everything he does. One example happened on our long run. We had about two miles left and I had it planned out in my mind that we would finish with a nice downhill slant. (Of course in months of running in Eugene I know exactly what routes take you uphill and I avoid them at all costs.) Brandon is the one who decided that we needed to go up. He was right, and we did it, and I'm glad that we did, but it it hadn't been for his example I would have taken the easy route.
The interesting thing about my inner-slacker is that she doesn't even do her job well. I do have a measure of success which means that she is only about a 92% when it comes to representing herself. I guess that if I can keep setting goals and she can help me figure out the easiest way to accomplish them we can live in symbiotic bliss.