Men Run Away From Me
Hey guys: Pick up your pace, but don’t ruin your race
It happened again last weekend.
And it happened a few weeks before that.
In fact, it’s happened so many times now that I have to accept it’s not just my imagination.
When I‘m gaining on a guy in a race, when it looks like I’m just about to pass him — he speeds up. First, there’s the unmistakable double, triple, or quadruple take. Then the furrowing of the sweaty brow, followed by the increase in his pace as he strives to put daylight between us. More often than not, I’ll catch back up to him, when his pace drops and I’m once again on his heels (not literally, I’ve never clipped anyone’s shoe during a race). Then the pattern repeats. Back and forth we go, engaged in a competitive pas de deux that I hadn’t planned on partaking in.
It’s especially noticeable in situations where the guy has already passed me once. That, I can understand — I also get a bit annoyed if someone I’ve worked hard to pass reappears, threatening to overtake me. All that work, and for what? So yeah, at that moment, I might dig a little deeper and try to get them behind me for good. But even though I don’t enjoy people passing me, I’m usually too wrapped up in my personal goals to worry much about my overall race position.
