Is it wrong to go "Whoo who!!!" at 6:40am?

Its Monday and trying to be spring out there.  I took this picture on my way to pick up a coffee at work today.

So mother nature is attempting to make it look like spring around here.  I think it feels like a cold spring compared to last year when we had been wearing shorts and t-shirts for over a month.

Anyway enough about the weather... I am on cloud nine today.  Why??? Its Monday, its overcast, does the sun exist anymore??

That doesn't matter I received a huge and I mean HUGE compliment on my run today.  No, a car full of twenty somethings didn't catcall me.  I received a genuine compliment.

I was out running enjoying the serenity of the trail, you know when no one else is around you and you feel like you own it.  The birds were singing and it was just me.  I was about 6k into my 10k when I hear footsteps behind me.  It couldn't be... someone else on my run.  I looked over my shoulder and recognized this guy I've seen running before.  He's that type of runner that looks like they were born to run.  I knew he was trying to catch me so I thought "I'm going to make you work for this" - hee hee - Little did I know how that was going to end up.

He caught me but instead of speeding past - he matched my pace (which was far faster than I usually run) and started chatting.  I then thought to myself "Ok make small talk and hang on for as long as you can, but let him go.... soon." I told him the store where I run from, he told me his wife ran there too.  He said he was training for Ottawa.  I said "Me too! Are you doing the full?"  He said he was doing the 10k and had never done a full. 

At that point he mistook me for a real runner. Now - its not that I think I am pretend running, but there are different classes of runners. I consider myself a serious runner, but not fast compared to a lot of people racing.  In smaller races I have placed in my age group which I am extremely proud of.  But this winter I did some track work with the Guelph Victor's and shared a track with some extremely fast people and made me realize my definition of fast is a lot different that some people.   I am by no means downplaying my accomplishments but that experience put running in a different perspective for me. I really believe that anyone who laces up their shoes and heads out the door is accomplishing something remarkable.  But there are those people who made their University track teams or can run a sub 7 minute mile.  I am not one of those people nor will I ever be. Duh - I finished university years ago.


Back to the run - as we ran he mentioned the names of people he ran with - all very fast local runners.  He talked about running on his University track team.  At this point I felt like a fly clinging to a windshield as you speed down the highway.  I didn't even try to answer his comments with more than a "Wow" or "Oh yeah".  Eventually we slowed down a bit.  Exchanged names - which I now forget.  Just before I turned to go back down my street I told him I had been running for just over 2 years.  His response "Wow - you're a natural."  Oh yeah baby!!!