Frank, one of the Jim Spivey running club members, told me that the Spivey group is respectful of all abilities. That's not some marketing talk, but the real thing.
No egos are seriously out of balance. I asked if the fact that some of the women could outrace most of the men, if that bothered any of the guys. Nope.
I see that. No one has given me anything but encouragement. Frank himself demonstrated this by running side-by-side with me even when I sensed he could pick it up a notch.
He's not the only one. Everyone has been kind and gracious. It helps.
I admitted that in my younger days, I might have found it inspiration not to let that happen. These days, I am not able to have such an ego. That our coach has run almost a minute faster than my fastest mile is part of that, but I don't even have that. My fastest was in 1984 or 1985. Now, I am hoping to just run several consecutive miles in a row.
He is a good guy. Kept me in conversation the whole way. Arthur Lydiard would have loved him.
In his late 50s, Frank has been running since he was 42, when he announced one February he would be running the Chicago Marathon that coming October. True to his now realized foolish words, he pulled it off.
My track workout was good yesterday. Even just a week of running has helped. Last Thursday, I wobbled. I hardly tore up the track, but my recovery has been much better. Last week, most parts of my body hurt. Now, just my lower calves, and not too badly.
Also, yesterday, I felt a little fire. I held back occasionally, wanting to go a little faster.
Because I will miss next week's practice, I need to come up with something on my own. I'll be out of town, hoping to find a lonely road or empty track, and may lose a step if I don't.
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