Can't we all just get along?

Around mile six today, as I was preparing to climb another hill, I noticed a woman running down the hill. We met at the foot of the hill and she asked directions. "The easiest thing," I told her, "is just to run with me a bit and I'll show you the trail that will take you where you want to go." We ran up the hill together, she pushing me faster than I wanted to go. But that was OK. I showed her where the trail was and off she went. Nice diversion. But it got me to thinking. All my meetings with runners have been pleasant. That's in contrast to my experience playing basketball. When I was playing regularly I noticed there were other players who regularly pissed me off. And there were times I too acted like a jerk (memories of setting a blind pick on a trash-talking opponent). For a while, I really enjoyed basketball, much more than I did running. There were times when I was really in sync with my teammates (making a blind overhead backwards pass to a teammate, receiving a nice little pass on a pick and roll) and those were times I loved the game. But then there were other times, the trash talking, the guys who didn't really understand how to play, the guys who didn't understand how I played, it just became aggravating, and lord knows there's plenty more important things in life to be aggravated about. I don't get aggravated by running. Disappointed, yep, there are bad days. But not aggravated. And the runners I've met so far have all been helpful and nice. Of course, I'm not a competitive threat to anyone.

11 miles today through the hills and trails of Pebble Beach. A nice place to get lost in (as the lady I helped discovered) and a nice place to get chased by a dog (a happy golden lab, who ran up a hill with me, licking at my calves while his master urgently called him home).

P.S. You out of towners who haven't seen the Big Sur Marathon course, check out the Tour of California on ESPN2 today. The cyclists are riding parts of "our" course on Thursday.