Fear of speed?

I've said it time and time again, "I'm not a fast runner." I know this and can almost embrace it, but sometimes on some runs we turn the speed up a few notches and kick into a full sprint. The motivators can be thoughts of future plans and goals, or frustrations or anger or sometimes just to see how fast we can go. Sometimes these moments last under a minute, or if we are really into it, maybe it will continue for a while, then suddenly we tune into the feeling of speed- the wind blowing and heart beating just a little faster- and a huge fear sets in.

For me the speed is fun but I get scared that I might lose control- I'm not sure why. I fear injuring myself, maybe not stopping, maybe a misstep, maybe just more?

I've been meaning to write about this for a while but it wasn't until today that I rolled my ankle for the second time this year- in that last sprint home- that I got to writing this. The lesson of today was twofold.

In analyzing the last time I rolled my ankle (1/1/11) and today, both times, I was a little distracted, or careless, and both of those injuries could have been avoided. Which leads me to believe, speed is nothing to fear, but carelessness is. While speed can always be controlled, so can carefulness. Ahh. A light bulb. Next time I get out (prob in a couple of weeks) I will no longer have a reason to fear a little sprint.

As always, I take my lessons one step further and extrapolate them in the context of life. I bet it is not the challenges that we take on that we should fear, but rather the carelessness we sometimes give into, while taking on these challenges that we should be aware of?