This is what I often felt when running at school (not versus the track team, just the general workout folk). If I passed runners at home too, I would probably feel it then as well. But as it currently stands, I rarely see another runner at home.

But yeah, I'd be running on the track and if a faster person joins while i'm doing a long run and not going full force, then i'd be all like [on the inside] "yeah, i'm in the midst of a nine mile run dude. You're not as cool as you might think."

"Running isn’t a sport for pretty boys…It’s about the sweat in your hair and the blisters on your feet. Its the frozen spit on your chin and the nausea in your gut. It’s about throbbing calves and cramps at midnight that are strong enough to wake the dead. It’s about getting out the door and running when the rest of the world is only dreaming about having the passion that you need to live each and every day with. It’s about being on a lonely road and running like a champion even when there’s not a single soul in sight to cheer you on. Running is all about having the desire to train and persevere until every fiber in your legs, mind, and heart is turned to steel. And when you’ve finally forged hard enough, you will have become the best runner you can be. And that’s all that you can ask for."-Paul Maurer

To quote Lisa:

"Personalized racing bib. And that is why I signed up."

The secret to running faster.

Once I was sixteen-years old.
(Oh really? yes, really.)
At this point in life, I had run a good 6-ish races. Times were going up, too.
So one night when Colin was over for supper, I asked him how to run faster. And this is what he told me:

"The only way to run faster, is to run faster."

-Colin

My internal reaction was like "oh pish-posh."
This wasn't exactly the answer I was looking for. No, I was hoping for some magic spell that would make me just go fast. Without the work of actually going fast. And needless to say, I ignored what he said for the next two years.

But in the end, he was right.

"The nonrunner gets cranky when he aches. The runner says, 'Alive, man, alive!'"-Marc Parent