Powerwalking

I have set a goal to become the fastest walker I know. I have already achieved that goal, I merely seek to make my victory absolute.

Punctuality is important to me; the weirdly common and accepted stereotype that African people are late to everything has always been appalling to me. So in my less socially-sane past, i.e. middle-early high school I would run to most of my classes, like an absolutely (punctual) freak. Good exercise, but thinking about it from other peoples’ point of view now really sets in how clueless I was. And maybe still am? I dunno, it’s all relative.

So I like being early to everything, on time at the latest. But for social (and hot, unbearable Texas weather) reasons, I can’t run. Do I yield, and take leisurely strolls to all my classes and appointments?

Heavens, no! I’ve opted to walk at the quickest pace I possibly can. It’s the nice burn and speed of running, at a much more modular pace, with the extra benefit of not looking goofy.

I have been perfecting my powerwalk. Across mud, in the rain, at night, in construction zones, anywhere possible, I walk at this brisk, unstoppable pace. This relentlessness is power itself.

I’ve been stopping by my university’s rec center. I go straight to the treadmill.

Do I run? No.

I walk. Fast.