Finally made it home late Wednesday night, but had to be at work by 6 am the next morning, so today was my first day back on the roads. Remind me again why we live in Utah? It was COLD this morning, not exactly like running at sea level in 70-degree weather like last week. Oh, well.
I have a confession to make. I think I wrote sometime during the summer about some punks who tried to pass me in what appeared to be a finishing sprint. At the time, I was having none of it and put the pedal to the medal in order to extend my never-been-passed streak for normal training runs. Well, about a quarter of a mile into this morning's Siberian death march with Jake, I noticed a fleet-footed neighbor of mine charging up along the opposite side of the street, probably cruising at sub-6 pace. He is a doctor who lives on my street and runs with the stiffest form I've ever seen, but for a guy in his 50s (or any other age, for that matter), he cruises. I see him a lot during the summer, and he runs shirtless from about May through September. Anyway, I've had road encounters with him before and have never let him by, even one time when he caught me in the middle of a cooldown during a fartlek workout. Today, though, I cast my pride into the gutter and just let him go. And you know what? It felt great. I was out for an easy run and my legs were stiff from a week without running, so there was no point in doing something stupid just to feed my ego. I think it was kind of a mild breakthrough for me. Baby steps. | 