How fast do you run a mile?

Yesterday I had an interesting conversation with a not so intelligent young man, who might have been a little drunk as well. As comical as it was, its a conversation that I've had frequently.

Often when people ask me: "What are your hobbies"
I reply: " I love training, I like to do marathons and triathlons"

Immediately the next question is, "How fast do you run a mile?"
I usually reply: "I'm not very fast, I can average about 9:45 min miles."

They usually brag, "I can run faster than that"
And I reply: "That's great, you can hold that time for 26.2 miles?"

And they usually either (a) Don't reply, (b) walk away or (c) say, "a marathon is 26.2 miles?"

I usually try not to be a snoody bitch, cus my very rational and wise boyfriend Kevin, teaches me otherwise, (and scolds me when I do - hehehe). I could tell if he was standing next to me during that conversation, he would give me that look that parents usually give you and they're telepathically saying, "you know better young lady!"

But I digress...

Endurance and Speed are 2 very different monsters, I mean "times".

In my HS Track hay-day, I ran a mile in under 7 mins.. I think my best time was 6:40.
I dont think I can ever come close to that now..but also I've never tried. I never timed how fast I can sprint 1 mile.. Which I think I will try to do that in the near future, because now I'm curious.

With endurance training, its less about how fast you can do something, but how Loooooong you can do something, and to do it well, (aka without dying..)

Micheal Johnson, a winner of 4 Olympic gold Medals, can run 100m: 10.09 seconds, tells everyone he can't run 1 mile.

Endurance and speed are very different categories, and I'm proud to say, "I'm an endurance athlete."