I'm a Slow Runner. Do I Deserve High-End Gear?

An ode to my (very expensive) trekking poles.

Do slow people deserve to use expensive, lightweight gear? Mouth breathing as I chomped and gulped down an energy chew, I realized that’s what I was really asking myself. Halfway through my training run, there had been precious little actual running and I kept thinking about the human mountain goats who’d powered past me on the uphills and leapt gracefully past me on the downs. My quads were so charred that even the downhills felt like a slog. Tucking my empty chew wrapper back into my vest to keep trudging, I pulled my trekking poles back out from where I’d stowed them under my arm. My fancy-schmancy ultra-elite gram-weenie trekking poles.

Here is the type of runner I am:

1. My eye is on aid station cutoff times—not course records. 

2. I sometimes forget to unpack my running vest between runs and wind up carrying unnecessary items—like a headlamp and gloves on a short 85-degree midday run.

3. Examining a flower, nest or mushroom almost always trumps going faster.

4. As a middle-aged mom, I carry 10 times the weight of my fancy poles in extra pounds on my body that I gained during pregnancy.

5. Having a monocular in my vest to spy on birds makes me very happy.

6. Deliciousness always wins out over weight when it comes to packing snacks.

7. I’m not afraid to stop mid-run to place an online burrito or smoothie order to pick up on my way home. (And have never paused my watch to do this.)

Also, I absolutely delight in my high-tech ultralight trekking poles. 

Spying = more fun than being fast

Do I think these state-of-the-art poles will help shave minutes or seconds off my times? No. Do I really think the ultra light weight will cut my fatigue a noticeable amount? Oh, possibly. Do I need the absolute lightest gear to survive and enjoy my run? Obviously not! 

Skittering down a steep section littered with ball-bearing gravel, I jabbed my poles here and there to stay upright as gravity pulled me faster than my blown quads wanted to go. I pictured the elite runners I’d seen dirt-surfing down that section of trail during a race last year. Those are the types of people who could actually shave time by using cutting-edge gear, I thought. 

But what if it’s not actually about time at all?

What if the person who enjoys the gear most actually deserves it the most? Because I may never go much faster. I doubt I’ll ever win a race or hold an FKT. But you know what I will do? I’ll try hard. And I’ll enjoy myself. I’ll pack my silly snacks into my vest and take my tired, middle-aged mom body out on the trail, point it up steep things and see where my legs take me. And if paying a bit more for those top-of-the-line poles helps me feel like I can go a bit further, then yes, please. 

So if you see me out there, dawdling over a feather or a paw print with those expensive poles tucked up under my arm, rest assured that I’m getting something I most definitely know I deserve: joy.