Am I okay with being slow?

I was out on a 5mi run one lovely morning.  The temps were not scorching, humidity was not choking and the sun was not quite that high in the sky.  I felt fantastic!  I felt like I was flying, barely touching the ground with each stride.  I remember thinking to myself, "My gosh I'm going so fast!"  At that same moment, I was passed by two people.  I couldn't believe it!  Really?  If I'm flying, they must be launching into orbit!  And then...I looked at my watch and it revealed to me the Turtle pace I was actually going.  But the Turtle beats the Hare, right?

A slow pace just feels good.  It feels like I can go on forever.  And when I'm done?  I have a high that carries me all day long.  All is right with the world!  But, there is one small problem.

I don't like to be passed, and I don't like to lose.  So, how do I reconcile this feel-good feeling with the nice and easy pace with this competitiveness I seemed to have developed?  What if I am a one-paced wonder?  Can I be okay with that?

In all honesty, I have not done any kind of speed work and I've made all my runs this month easy runs just to recover and get the mileage in before last week's 10K.  So can I get faster?  It's possible.  People say that intervals work wonders.  Kelly has me starting speed work on Monday, so we'll see if the legend is true.  For now...i'm off for an easy 5m.  It's precipitating today, so it looks like I am treadmill bound today.  Yes, I could brave the elements...but I'm a weenie baby when it comes to wet stuff falling from the sky.

TTFN!