Beautiful, warm morning for a run. Temperatures in the upper 60's. Full moon to make it easy to see where you're going. Left knee felt a little sore going down the stairs this morning and was a bit stiff starting out, but didn't have any noticeable aches or pains after the first mile or so. Felt fairly energetic this morning and started picking up the pace after passing the high school (about the two mile mark). Just as I was coming to the four mile mark, a couple of runners turned on to the Alpine Highway heading the same direction as me (only on the other side of the road). Without any conscious effor on my part, my pace picked up significantly. It never fails...if I see someone ahead of me that I have any chance of passing (even if they're on a bike), I start running faster. And after I pass them, I always figure that they're trying to pass me back so I run faster still. I know it's kind of a Pavlovian response, but it's kind of fun and it gets me to work harder. And just when I was starting to think about backing off a bit, another couple turns on to the road right ahead of me and off I go again. No sign of the bowel discomfort that bothered me most of the day yesterday. | 