after work run

After work, I drove to Lake Merced for my second to last run before Sunday’s race. I parked and did my usual 4.61 mile loop as quickly as possible. This was supposed to be a leasurely run but I always end up going faster than I planned. A third of the way around the lake, I passed a dark haired guy in t-shirt and shorts listening to his ipod. When I got to the halfway point, the southern edge of the lake, I saw the same guy that I passed earlier in front of me. Apparently, he cut across the bridge and shortened his running distance by a half mile. Eventually I caught up to him and as I’m about to pass, he kicks it into high gear, huffing and puffing to get ahead. WTF? Was this guy serious? Last I checked this wasn’t a race but I guess he didn’t want me to pass him twice. So, I picked up the pace and we’re running neck and neck except I’m not wheezing. I wasn’t going to exert all my energy just to pass a guy that feels a need to beat me when I ran an extra half mile and still managed to catch up to him. So, I let him sprint to the parking lot where I could just imagine his ego was self inflating. Then he stopped to walk! And I ran past. That guy has no endurance whatsoever.

I don’t know why some men feel a need to do that. It happens during races, on training runs, wherever. My girlfriends all have the same story..so and so didn’t want me to pass so he sprinted ahead only to slow down and then he got all pissed off that I beat him to the finish line. But not without having some excuse for his bad performance like “oh, my leg cramped up” or “I biked 40 miles earlier” or some stupid reason to justify why he was beaten by a girl. So damn annoying…