Back when I was young and didn't know any better, runner friends would ask me if I was fit. Since I had no conception of what fitness entailed, I’d shrug and say, “Sure, I guess?” If you have to guess, one of them told me with a dismissive tone, you’re not actually fit. Ouch.
To be fair, I wasn’t unfit. I ran sometimes. I went to the gym on a somewhat regular basis. Yet, without the requisite training, fitness was as much of a mystery to me as Bigfoot or Sasquatch. Which didn't mean fitness wasn’t real. Quite the contrary. The truth, as they say, was out there. I just hadn’t found it yet.