Don't stand so close to me, shorts and 20 miles

A couple of weeks ago I was running my scheduled five miles at 5:30 am. At about 2.5 miles in I was lost in John Mayer's cover of Jimi Hendrix's Bold as Love when I was startled to realize that there was another runner right on my heals. I sped up trying to shake this person who was rude enough to run up on another runner and then match him stride for stride for a moment or two. As my pace quickened my heart beat did as well as I found that I couldn't lose him/her. It may be an axe murderer rather than a runner. When I finally was brave enough to look around, I found that there was no one behind me.

The city of Lake Jackson has just completed construction on Oak Drive near down town. It has a wide sidewalk that is good for running. I wish they would have chosen a softer surface than concrete but it is nice to run on none the less. Part of the new construction includes street lights on both sides of the road. The lights on the side of the road where I run casts a shadow in front of me and the light across the street casts a shadow behind me. As I progress down the street the shadows alternate occasionally giving me the illusion that there is someone behind me. This has happened a couple of time since but now I understand what is really going on faster than I did the first time. When it happened the first time I almost had to stop and clean out the running shorts.

Speaking of running shorts, I bought a new pair last week, which is a rare occurrence for me. I wear my running clothes until they are threadbare. I bought some Nike shorts that are longer than typical running shorts. The bottom thread almost touches my knees and I like them a lot. I have always hated the super short short running shorts for guys. How much faster can shorts with a slit up to my hip bone actually make me? I really would rather not wear something that short. I hear that Lance Armstrong told the Nike reps the same thing when they brought him a pair of running shorts to wear in the NYC marathon. I'm sure Armstrong started a new trend and I have benefited personally.

I ran 20 miles on Friday and it went exceptionally well. I ran it in 2:57 for an 8:51 minute per mile average. The weather was much nicer than the previous Friday and I felt like I could hold my pace forever.

The taper has begun in earnest. I ran a hard 5 miles this morning with Dave Matthews playing in my head. It feels good to know I'm past the hardest part of my training and that another marathon is close to being a reality.