The Fox and the Hound

I had the rare treat of running with Reba this morning. The link to the route is here (start point is off and I adjusted the finish accordingly, so the mileage should be good enough for gov't work).

You can read Reba's entry to get more details on what were blustery conditions and a match of my tired legs and her lack of energy. But its in the logbook now.

The first time Reba and I met, we ran together. It was an awkward occasion which we laugh about now and express amazement that we survived it intact enough to see a second, more conventional date. That was about a year and a half ago. Since then we have run together only very occasionally, and it is the only area I can think of where I feel a palpable amount of discomfort between us. This morning was no exception - I felt like I was running in Timberlands. I didn't know if the pace was too fast or too slow; I didn't remember the loop being this hilly; West Philly looked awfully trashy (literally) this morning; and I second-guessed everything I said as to whether I sounded too full of myself, patronizing, boring or obnoxious as I prattled on while she toiled away.

But that doesn't contradict what I said at the beginning of the post. Between you and me, I'd still like to run with her more and am thankful that she will have me despite my utter lack of coolness on the roads.

I'll stretch the distance of the run just a tad to call it 8.5 miles; you'll have to go to her site if you want to know the time.