Sheila and I are training for a half-iron distance triathlon and also Twin Cities Marathon. To that end, she found out this awesome track workout we could do with a group of other women on Monday mornings.

I love it! It's super fun and challenging, and when I'm done, I'm on a high for the rest of the day.

I missed last week, though, and it turns out that last week everyone did a time trial mile to get a baseline for their paces.

I didn't think it was such a big deal that I missed the time trial because I've been running for twenty years (20!), and I generally have a pretty good idea of how in-shape I am at any given time.

So, when the leader, an elite triathlete, called me out on not having done my mile at the beginning of the workout, I said I was willing to forgo it. I really just wanted to do the workout with the group.

"I'll just say my mile is a 6:20," I said.

"What do you mean you'll just SAY that?" she said.

"Well, I think that's what I would run," I said, shrugging.

"Oh!" said another woman. "Okay, I'll just SAY mine is a 4:50!"

"Yeah!" said another. "And I'll just SAY mine is a 5:30! That would be great!"

Hahahahaha. Humph.

So, obviously, I ran the stupid mile. A begrudging 6:17.