The Things We See

OBJECTIVE
7 mi.@ 8:04

ACHIEVED
7.18 mi.@ 8:14

5:02 AM 60F 90% 4 mph

This was a weird run! First off, I started slowly. Nothing weird about that. I just let the first mile come at whatever pace I was feeling. From that point, I did the math to work it so Mile 4 would be 8:04, my objective. Miles 5 - 7 would be negative splits at whatever I needed to get back to 8:04 for the entire run. All of this was lost on me shortly after Mile 2.

I saw a runner coming toward me. I watched him pass from across the median and thought, "that guy is running pretty fast." It's not entirely unusual to see people out running, walking or riding this early in the morning but I generally "know" who the regulars are. This guy wasn't. My route had me turn right. A few blocks later I looked up a street to my right and there was the runner again. This time coming toward me. I continued winding through the neighborhood but heard his footsteps behind me. Slightly short of my Mile 3 marker he passed me. Now I wasn't flying along but generally people don't pass me even when I'm just cruising. He was going pretty fast; an older guy who I haven't seen before.

So while pondering that uncommon occurrence, I worked my way out of the neighborhood and on to Cypresswood. Cypresswood is very dark where I come out of the lighted neighborhood. It takes some time for my eyes to adjust. I crossed the street and made the right turn. As I did, some movement in the darkness caught my eye. Still trying to focus, I continued running but heard muffled noises and finally my brain caught up and connected the dots for me. It was a person. Still running, I turned back to see a girl walking on the sidewalk. She was sobbing. It's probably about 5:25 AM at this point. I stopped running and turned back. I asked her if she was okay. She said that her boyfriend had just dumped her out of his car. She said she only had a 5 minute walk home. She was nervous. I suppose a nearly naked guy popping out of nowhere when you're in a distraught state probably wasn't too comforting. Figuring there wasn't much I could do, I started running again. The police station was about a half a mile away. There's always a lot of activity there in the morning. I think they must have a morning briefing at 6 AM or something. I ran up to a car with an officer in it and told her about what I had just encountered. The young officer eased her cruiser out onto the street and headed back toward the girl.

I'll never know the outcome but the whole scenario was rather odd. Oh and by the way, I managed to get a run in ....

PRE RUN
weight 161

POST RUN
water, multivitamin & oatmeal w/brown sugar & 1% milk