So, you’re a big Mindy Kaling fan? You liked her as Kelly on The Office, and now you love The Mindy Project? Awesome! I’d say I’m a fan, too, but my relationship with Mindy goes way deeper. She’s my workout buddy.

Now, before you get way jealous (because HELLO, it’s Mindy Kaling, one of the funniest, smartest, all around slinkster-coolest girls in the public eye), I have to be really clear here. We don’t actually run together, but then we kind of do. See, I run at the Y in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, and she probably runs somewhere in my hometown of L.A., but when Mindy and I run, we run foot-pound for foot-pound at the same exact pace. And that pace? Well, it’s kind of slow. An 11-minute mile, to be exact.

Mindy told US Weekly, “When I’m not in production, I go for jogs five to six days a week,” she adds. “There’s a history of heart attacks on my father’s side of the family, so I do think about cardiovascular health. I’m an avid slow jogger. I always hesitate to go on runs with my friends because my pace is so slow. I’m talking about an 11-minute mile . . . ”

The thing is, I’ve always been really proud of my 11-minute mile! When I was a kid, I wasn’t allowed to run because of a heart condition that could get triggered by cardio exercises like jogging, skipping rope, jumping up and down a lot . . . basically anything fun. I had to sit out in P.E. classes and miss out on three-legged races. Some girls were jealous that I didn’t have to get all sweaty in the middle of the school day, but in short, it sucked. I just wanted to run like everybody else.

My heart has been pretty darn stable in recent years, and so I decided to at least try to start walking on the treadmill a couple times a week, just to get healthier. Truth? It was flat-out boring. I was dying to go faster, so I cranked the speed up to a slow jog one day, just to see what would happen. I felt so bad ass! Over the years, I’ve sped up my run more and more, and every time I’ve run, it’s been a reminder of just how much I’m really capable of (often more than I think). That said, I’m pretty confident that an 11-minute mile is my limit. Any faster, and my face turns a distractingly neon shade of raspberry–not really the look I’m going for.

Yes, I know my pace is slow. And when my friends or boyfriend suggest hitting up the track together, I know it’s probably not a good idea, since they’ll leave me in their dust (and they should!), but my homegirl Mindy Kaling and I can run together any day. Non-athletic (but super determined) girls, unite!

Do you wish Mindy Kaling was your workout buddy? Do you run? What’s your pace? Tell us in the comments!

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