Like some cheese-eating high school boy

I re-watched the Ottawa marathon broadcast. I can’t believe how annoying it is to see myself always flicking sweat off my face.

On a hot run earlier this month I started to sweat and, consequently, flick sweat off my face. Then I tried to not touch my face. When a big drop of sweat is sitting on my face it’s like an itch and I automatically swipe it. It took all my mental fortitude to not touch my face and the instant something distracted me, (such as looking for traffic) I would wipe the sweat away. I think when I’m focused during a race that if I tried not to touch my face I’d lose focus on trying to go fast.

Anyways, recovery from Ottawa went well and I resumed running after a full week off. My first week was easy and then I started to ease into workouts. I still feel sluggish 5 weeks after the marathon (one week out from Edmonton Lululemon 10km) but each week I see improvement.

Last year I won Edmonton 10km but it was 12 weeks after Boston. 12 weeks and 6 weeks is a massive difference. Thankfully my training has gone smoothly and I hope to have a decent race and a kickstart to the rest of the summer season.

***

On a run last week I passed a group of high-school boys walking on the rail trail. About 100m later one of them was running beside me. He was wearing his school uniform and did not look like a runner.

Me: “Only 26km left.”

High-school kid: “You got something on your hat.” And flicked the top of my hat.

Me: “Showing off for your buddies, eh?”

HSK: “Actually, I get five bucks if I run beside you until the top of the hill.”

Me: “Hmmm, I’ll have to decide if you get to keep the five dollars or not.”

And then I picked up the pace for a few strides. He cockily smiled as he kept up. Five seconds later he realized he was in big trouble and the smirk quickly disappeared. I slowed back down and let him regain his composure. At that point we started to go up the hill and I had to slow down.

Me: “Maybe I’ll let you get the five bucks.”

HSK: Out-of-breath.

Me: “We’re crawling now and this is getting boring, I’m going to put you out of your misery” I then took 3 fast steps and realized he had nothing left. I felt for him so slowed way down for the final 20m of the hill.

Me: “Let me know when you’ve earned the five bucks.”

We crested the hill side-by-side.

HSK: “That’s…good….thanks”