i had a bit of excitement today during the run... as i made my way back along the trail, i caught up with another runner, and as i prepared to pass, he noticed me a sped up, which unbeknownst to him, triggered the pavlovian response of me licking my chops. his increased tempo caused a brief delay in my passing, but as i moved forward, i heard him picking up the pace right behind me. again, an almost instinctive response within me caused me to stretch out my legs just a bit more, increase the cadence ever so slightly. the other guy repeated the process several more times, testing my response, which was identical to the first. to his credit, he lasted longer than i predicted, probably the better part of a mile. soon enough, though, the sound of him hot on my heels faded, and as i made a turn up the road, a quick glance back confirmed that he was sucking wind, shuffling down the road (hardly in the running form requisite of a vibram toe-shoe runner...) yeah, this did feed the ego a bit, but every now and then it's fun to get into these impromptu races....
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