Long term readers of FosterRuns will remember that I used to run a lot with the eponymous Bok (named after the mighty fast and tireless Springbok) and it’s fair to say that the speed of my running has probably declined in proportion with the frequency of our runs.
The deep rumble of a throaty V8 heralded the arrival of the Bok this morning and we were soon running down the road, already deep in conversation… but at a speed that made it difficult for me to talk! After five minutes he casually asked if the pace was too fast for me, before continuing unabated in spite of my gasped response.
It was a beautiful morning to be out, especially as overnight rain had reduced the humidity and brought a little extra depth of colour to the countryside. It also felt good to be running for a second time in the same week, rather than the recent bi-weekly nonsense. More than anything else, it was great to run in such excellent company, a facet that my recent running has been sadly missing.
We followed my normalish route (which you can see here on Strava) but time seemed to pass so much more quickly than normal because of the focus on conversation rather than running.
Oh, and because we were running a little faster than I have been used to lately… 6.3 miles in 56 minutes, an average of 6.75 mph. Of course, that’s not particularly fast… just faster than is normal for me at the moment, as you can see by all the PBs for the run below (added to which my phone showed PBs for 1km and half a mile too!).
When I suggested that the Bok run on at the end, he effortlessly made the leap to warp speed and disappeared almost instantaneously!
One thing did surprise me about my normally fastidious running partner… his runners are not as sparkly clean as they used to. I used to derive great pleasure from taking him on particularly muddy paths in order to see the gleam of his shoes disappear into the murk, but by the following run they would be back to sparkling again. Not so today… they were simply clean, the sign of a man who works hard at prioritising the important things in life. Like staying fit enough to run faster.
My runners never sparkle, but there’s still a message hidden in there for me… if I choose to figure out what it is…