I haven't run in a few days and I could definitely tell due to the build up of nervous energy today, so I planned to go for a jog on the trail behind work while I was in the middle of a 2-hour incubation. Sometimes during lunch my coworkers and I see this man running on the trail who looks old just because he hunches over forward and runs REALLY slowly-I don't know that he's really as old as we think he is. His defining characteristics are his posture and the fact that he never wears a shirt. Anyway, I'm not used to trail running so I was running slow up the hills (out of shape) and even slower down the hills (bad knees). As I was approaching the University I hoped no one from my lab was looking out the window because they might see me and think I was running like the old man- ha ha, right?! But then I look ahead of me and see that the old man is actually running on the trail in the same direction I am going. Of course I have to pass him, since we have so often wondered (very politely) why anyone would run so slow. To save face, I passed him on the section of the trail that is directly outside our lunch window. The part of the trail continuing on past our building has a 0.2 mile hill, and just as I was about a quarter of the way up this old man PASSED ME BACK! It wasn't one of those passes with awkward moments between runners that are close to the same speed, this guy SMOKED ME! I put it in all caps because I almost passed out I couldn't believe it. Anyway-a humbling experience. |