Awkward situation during my morning run

Some manly-man dorks do that. Can’t bear to be passed. Humiliating for them, even on a jog.

Look at this way: you pushed him to a higher level in his workout, and you got some pursuit training

Oh yuck. He shouldn't be spitting on the floor, that's minging. That sounds a bit weird, I'd be like WTF aren't you running your own pace?

I can top your awkward situation though. Today I was in Waitrose and this man started chatting me up (which is hilarious because I look like the Olympig on acid right now) and we were talking, then he followed me outside and started a conversation. I took my mask off, and he kind of backed away. I didn't really think anything of it, but when I got home I looked in the mirror and I had chocolate brownie smeared around my face like mud! Well I guess masks hide a multitude of sins but I didn't realise my small snack had resulted in that.

That's true and it was a good workout, but a weird situation. I was quiet the whole time except for the keys jangling in my pocket.

That doesn't seem like a situation that warrants you saying anything.

Your guess about his pace and his run is probably correct, but you never know what someone else's intent is on their run, what their fitness level is, or what they've done in the past few days.

The guy probably doesn't know anything about training for running and is just out there to try to stay healthy.

Why didn't you just blast past him and shout gobble gobble?

You should've gotten right up on him, close enough to almost but not quite clip his heels, then when he notices say, "Sorry dude, just drafting," then pass him. That would've been the polite thing to do.

elvid33 wrote:

That doesn't seem like a situation that warrants you saying anything.

+1

For sure.

I’ve been in similar situations where I surged for a few minutes just to put the other guy behind me and be done with the minor awkwardness. But that’s easier (less weird) when you’re the one who finds himself a few steps ahead, and it could disrupt your run or make you seem no better than they are, so to speak.

You ran behind this guy for some 15+ minutes without saying anything? You sound like a stalker.

Don't be a Stalker wrote:

You ran behind this guy for some 15+ minutes without saying anything? You sound like a stalker.

Yah, like how close were you, Mr. Creepers?

John Wesley Harding wrote:

elvid33 wrote:

That doesn't seem like a situation that warrants you saying anything.

+1

For sure.

I’ve been in similar situations where I surged for a few minutes just to put the other guy behind me and be done with the minor awkwardness. But that’s easier (less weird) when you’re the one who finds himself a few steps ahead, and it could disrupt your run or make you seem no better than they are, so to speak.

+2

This was his issue and you have no responsibility to try and fix his insecurities on your run. I'm also positive, giving his insecurities, that anything you said would just have made the situation worse.

Normal people know that you don't know where someone is on their yearly schedule, what type of run they are doing that day, or where they are in their run. It's ridiculous for him to speed up a morning run because someone is going faster, just shows a weakness in character.

If he held a 6:35 pace for 15 minutes he must be doing okay... sounds like he got a good workout in. What's wrong with breathing hard when running. That happens to most people running fast unless they are fairly aerobically fit.

A guy ran at threshold pace for 15 minutes in front of OP on a popular trail near a city. Why is this worthy of discussion...

I think you played it right. The only other option I could see is briefly picking up the speed a lot to quickly get around the person. If you barely pass them it is more awkward because they might barely pick up their speed to stay right behind you. Better to drop them and be done with it.

I used to feel bad about passing runners when I lived in a smaller town, as if they would feel bad I'm passing them and get discouraged even though they're doing a good thing to be running. But now I live in a larger population area and I frequently have to pass runners every which way and it's not a big deal.

John Wesley Harding wrote:

elvid33 wrote:

That doesn't seem like a situation that warrants you saying anything.

+1

For sure.

I’ve been in similar situations where I surged for a few minutes just to put the other guy behind me and be done with the minor awkwardness. But that’s easier (less weird) when you’re the one who finds himself a few steps ahead, and it could disrupt your run or make you seem no better than they are, so to speak.

That doesn't seem like situation that warrants posting about.

centro would have passed on the inside

John Wesley Harding wrote:

I’ve been in similar situations where I surged for a few minutes just to put the other guy behind me and be done with the minor awkwardness..

Now, has anyone done this, only to have the guy pull a Rudy, and then try to come back on you, then you hit it again, then he responds....great fun with strangers till someone leaves the trail or turns off. I have seriously redlined some dudes out there, just squeezed the hell out of them. We used to do this to the incoming freshmen on our college team too!

I had an almost identical situation on a recent run.

Was doing an easy 6 miles around 7:00 pace. Saw some guy a few hundred metres ahead and gained on him pretty quickly. Got about 15 metres behind him and he turned around, saw me, and acelerated up to my pace. We followed the same route for a solid mile after that. He maintained his 15 metre lead, I did consider picking up the pace to tease him a bit but didn't want my easy run to be too fast. We eventually got to what I presume was where he planned to finish his run as he burst into a sprint and pulled away from me then turned onto a minor side road (presumably where he lived). Just thought it was funny and kind of felt proud of the guy, haha.

While injured one year I switched to the bike. I had a great engine from mountain running, but rode a pretty crappy mountain bike and possessed zero cycling gear. And yet, I could keep high wattage for sustained efforts. This led to some funny interactions with fellow cyclists.

Road cyclists, I found out, are crazy, competitive Passing another cyclist is evidently akin to 'biting one's thumb', especially when the person passing them looks like a goon; rocking basketball shorts, a sweatshirt, and sitting straight up in the saddle (while they sit in aero position). Seldom do they go down without a fight, or without tucking themselves in your slipstream and hammering. It's great fun, really, and there's great satisfaction in outriding a guy on a bike that costs more than your car.