Race Against Time

Who wins a 5km running race between 2010 Me, and the current 2022 edition of me? It’s not exactly the burning question of our times, but a Facebook Memory popped up last week that did have me pondering what the outcome of such a race would be. The Facebook Memory was from a now defunct NikeRunning club app, showing a recorded time for a 5km run I’d just completed in January 2010. Several laps of the track I used to jog round in Coyoacan. The time? I did the 5k in 27 minutes and 30 seconds.

I went out today to see if I could beat that time. In the red corner sits 2010 Me, a resident of Mexico City with a seemingly unbeatable list of advantages. I was twelve years younger, very lean and running/cycling hundreds of miles each months. That run occurred at around the same time I had gotten into mountain climbing, scaling three lofty peaks in Mexico. I had yet to suffer the debilitating virus of 2019 that wrecked my lungs.

In the blue corner, sits 2022 Me a resident of Bournemouth. Much older and a stone and a half overweight. I have those wrecked lungs I mentioned in the last paragraph. I haven’t gone out and had a run in more than two years, and I’ve done very little running in the last decade. I have a knackered knee, sadly. I have been doing a good amount of Apple Fitness+ exercises over the last year, though. Core, weights, Pilates and HIIT. Plenty of long walks. The occasional bike ride. A swim once every so often.

It doesn’t seem a fair match up. But 2020 mMehas a card up his sleeve. Because 2020 Me hasn’t had a cigarette in more than two years. And 2010 Me was a 20 a day man who’d have had a quick smoke two minutes before beginning the run. So this race can be summed up as this: does quitting smoking overcome numerous other disadvantages of age, weight and general health? Well, it’s exciting now, isn’t it? It was exciting enough that I went for a 5km run along the beach today to find out.

The run started well. I felt good and my lungs were keeping up with my body. Which was nice. I do remember how, as a smoker, the biggest issue I had when exercising was my lungs inability to supply my muscles with sufficient oxygen. Not a problem today, though. I was pleasantly surprised by my speed at the 1km mark, faster than I’d expected. The second km soon passed by at a similar pace. All was well.

Then I double blundered. I turned at the halfway mark. I turned quicker than the GPS on my Apple Watch could record, and it cost me about ten seconds. And then the wind picked up, and not in my favour. I ran the last 2kms into a strong headwind. Which is much harder work. And slower going. And I was getting tired. And the last half kilometre began to look like half a marathon. Ooof.

But I persevered. My watch let me know the moment I hit the 5k mark and I stopped the clock. And now I know the answer. Now I know which is the finer physical specimen. Today, I ran the 5kms in 25 mins and 11 seconds. Overweight but smoke free 2020 Me beat 2010 Me by 19 seconds, despite the wind and GPS issue. To be fair, I always knew that one way or another, I would win this race.

I guess the moral of this story is that smokers would do well to quit the habit. And non smokers should take note and continue as they are.