I met Tom, Tony, Liza, and Sumnam (new to the group) yesterday to run the paved trails at Leon Creek. This was my first time on these paths, and although I despise running on concrete, I looked forward to the company of running with friends. Tom had organized the run and sent an email earlier in the week. I briefly glanced at the email, gleaning the essential details of the text, like when and where to meet – 5:45AM by the Drury Inn on 1604. As I was driving to the Drury, I began to wonder exactly where I was supposed to park to access the trail. Maybe I should check Tom’s email one last time, I thought to myself. When I did, I realized that we were meeting at the trailhead on Bandera Road at 5:30. Awesome. I was late and in the wrong place.
Once we did get started, things went surprisingly well. I was planning on logging 15 miles, and the cooler weather made this enjoyable, as did the comradery of my friends. We chatted and laughed, and soon it was time for Sumnam and myself to turn around (the others were going 20 miles, and I was in taper mode with Wasatch less than a week away). On the return trip, a lady on a bike passed us and asked if we were training for anything in particular. I like to be as vague as possible, and simply replied yes. She pressed us, asking what I had coming up. I replied that I was running a 100 miler. Here’s how the rest of the conversation went…
Lady on Bike: “Oh, I’ve done one of those before”.
Me: “Really, which one?”
Lady On Bike: “It was spread out over 4 days, in Michigan”.
Me: “That sounds like fun. Mine is in Utah”
Lady on Bike: “You sure are wearing some weird clothes, but I guess you know what you are doing”. (I was wearing a plaid shirt and “normal” shorts”)
Aside from the fact that I was impressed by the number of people out exercising in San Antonio on a Sunday, one thing stood out to me. I always try to say hello to people I pass on the trail. Yesterday was no different. What was shocking to me was the lack of response I got from the people I greeted. I don’t expect (nor really want) to start up a full-blown conversation, but I simple “hello” or nod would be nice. I guess I am spoiled by the trail running community, where seeing others on the trail is a rare occurrence, so stopping to say hello is not uncommon. Although I had a blast yesterday, I am going to stick to the trails in the future as much as I can.
The warmth and kinship in the ultra running community really is something else.
ReplyDeleteEven Sunday, when I was running through McAllister amidst a large group of UTSA cross country runners, I could feel the immediate difference in their running style and camaraderie despite them also being distance runners.