Go, you chicken fat, go away!

I felt pretty good this morning.  My legs are almost back to normal.  I was running to the Floodway when a truck pulled up alongside me and the driver said, "Hey-ay!"  It was Vanessa, my wife's walking buddy.  It was just getting light out and there weren't a lot of people out yet.  When I got to two miles I saw a runner coming toward me.  He was the same guy I saw a few months ago that let's his dog follow him, but it's hard to tell if it's his dog, because of how far away it always is from him.  He seemed pretty fast and I expected him to run over to the other side of the RWCD Canal when he turned back north at McKellips.  I didn't think he'd be able to catch me before I got to McDowell.  I got to McDowell and turned around and I saw him coming back to me on the same side of the Canal that I was on.  There is a bridge at the Canal gate about a fifth of a mile from McDowell.  He crossed the bridge right when I got to him and was quickly in front of me on the other side.  He then proceeded to run a quarter mile and turn back around.  I knew I was running faster than I have in a long time, but I'm still slow.  I was happy that I averaged well under a 10 min. pace today.  As I approached Greenfield Road I saw a lady on the east side of the Canal.  She crossed over to the west side and started running.  I wasn't able to catch her and I thought she might just be doing this little loop that I see a lot of people do who work out at the gym there on the corner.  But she crossed Brown Road and kept going south.  I still wasn't able to catch her until she stopped right before Adobe.  I told her good job, but she didn't say anything back to me.