Illusions

There are a bunch of pictures on the Internet
from the race last Saturday out at Trexlertown
and two or three of me.
There I'm rolling through the woods on a warm up
lap, looking retarded, and later, there I am near
the finish line, either after I finished, or on
lap five or six.
Must have still had a few laps to go 'cause I
don't look bad enough for it to have been the
end of my 10k.
Bent over hands on knees, looking at the track
below my feet, I look nothing like the pictures
I have taped in the training journal I started
earlier this year for inspiration.
Those photos show skaters in full stride, knees
bent, arms swinging.
Now those gals are skaters!
No, I look like what I am, a middle aged woman
with inline speed skates on her feet.
It's disappointing not to be a pretty skater, a
graceful skater.
It's disappointing to take longer to finish a 10k
than some runners..
Yet, everything is relative.
I would have been thrilled last year to break a 30
minute 10k on the T'town track, and on Saturday I
was 23+.
It hurt, and I looked like it hurt.
Well, it is what it is.
And I am a speed skater, graceful or not..