Running, when in doubt draw

After work I met up with Ali to run at Sugden Park.  When we started running years ago Sugden was a favorite spot to do so.  It’s typically nearly empty and has a running/biking/walking trail that circles a pretty large lake.  The track also is quite different depending on the direction you run.  If you run in a counter clockwise direction you wind up running on a gradual incline for over half of the course.  If you run the other direction you are running downhill, obviously much easier. 

We decided to go the harder direction.  One lap around the course is right around 1.5 miles.  We did two laps at a sub 10 clip, a good pace for Ali.  I told her we could go as long or as short as she wanted.  Even though Ali is a legitimate half marathoner at this point and I have never run more than 6 miles, I would never be the one to pull the cord on a run.  I’d keep going until parts of my knees were dropping off behind me.

Jeremy loves to challenge me at various contests of strength, agility and mental acuity.  He typically loses most of these contests but it doesn’t stop him for coming back for more.  I admire his competitive spirit if nothing else.

Yesterday he threw out a chess challenge.  He was quite confident he could best me in the game.  We hopped onto Yahoo Games and got into a match.  Jeremy went first and I instantly recognized that he must have thought I was a schlub.  He was actually trying to put me in a 4 move checkmate.

Of course I instantly blocked the attempt and a few moves later I had him in a situation where he was going to lose a high piece without any retribution.  Desperate to save face, Jeremy resorted to using his queen to ping pong my king back and forth a few times so the game would be called a draw, knowing he was going to lose otherwise.

Of course I was happy to rub it in Jeremy’s face.  He knew he was toast and instead of losing the piece and perhaps regrouping he raised the white flag.  We have a laundry list of other competitions that he wants to challenge me to including vertical jump, field goal kicking, one on one basketball and a grappling match.  I encourage him to think twice about continuing down what has to be a frustrating path of futility.  Yet, he persists.