The plan was for 14 easy today, but when I realized that I was already a couple of miles ahead of schedule this week and my lower back pain kicked in around mile 6, I decided to turn around. I did the 20th East route out to Holladay Village and back. As I reached the light on 2700 South and 2000 East on the way home, the light turned green in my favor just as I got there, so I went through without slowing down. At the same time, a young-looking guy turned north on 2000 East from 2700 South. I was on the east sidewalk, he on the west. I sped up just a little to pass him (as is my wont), but he seemed to realize it and picked up his pace. Although my back was hurting and I was hoping to keep things easy, I could not allow this guy to overtake me, so I threw down the hammer. For a couple hundred meters, I could hear his footfalls on the other side of the street. As we hit the downhill to go under I-80, I could still hear him, so I picked it up more. At the top of the hill on the other side, I turned right toward 21st East. I didn't look back until I got stopped at the 21st South intersection. When I turned around to see if he was still on my tail, he was nowhere in sight. He probably turned left on Parley's Canyon Drive where I turned right. I also realized that my back pain had subsided considerably. Amazing what a little pride and adrenaline can do for a guy. I felt like I should carry some kind of sign that says, "Haven't been passed on a training run in 22 years of running, so please forgive any sudden accelerations and just let me go instead of trying to overtake me--my midlife crisis thanks you."
| 