Spitting mad

Earlier this week I had the unpleasant experience of being all too close to the line of fire when a nearby runner decided to clear his throat by spitting on the street. Right. In. Front. Of. My. Feet.

Now don't get me wrong... Show me a runner who claims to never spit on the run, and I'll show you someone who either A - is fibbing, B - hasn't been running long enough, or C - has an elevated sense of social propriety that puts the rest of us to shame. (For more on the pros and cons of the most controversial running etiquette, see Adam Goucher's excellent blog here.)

So, yes, I accept that spit happens.

What I don't accept is that there is any excuse for not looking before you spew saliva. That, mister, is just gross.

So I did what I most love to do in situations like this. I took a deep breath, leaned into my stride, and beat the pants off the offender... chirping a little "passing on your left" at him as I rolled by and left him in the dust. Being good and truly pissed off works wonders for my pacing.

I suppose I could have said something specific to him about his spitting, but that always risks coming across as cranky (particularly when you're still in the rear), so I chose to take my anger out on the pavement.

... now if I could just channel that kind of anger into my pacing on my next race!

(but without the spit)

Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Archive

Boston fever

Why does the Boston marathon distract me so thoroughly?

Today, Marathon Day, I find it hard to focus on work. I read an email, then check the leader board. I take a phone call, then check Facebook to see if there are any course updates from my fleet-footed running buddies who are racing today. (Yes... at least one of my Boston-running friends has been known to post status updates while on the move.)

And then I found the individual runner tracker, and am totally glued to my computer screen. I'll have to work late tonight to make up for my lack of productivity this morning, but some things just don't happen every day.

I'll use Boston as my mantra when I'm out on my training runs this week...

"If 20,000 other people can run up Heartbreak Hill, I can do one more hill repeat!"

"If 20,000 other people can BQ, I can add one more mile to my long run!"

I don't know what it is about THIS race that makes it so incredible. But it is. And I'm glad. (... now back to the race tracker!)