Running With John

I've known John for years and years. We met in a financial chatroom and 2-3 years ago we both started getting serious about running. While most of the room occupants talked stocks, we'd exchange instant messages about our growing obsessions with running. Well this weekend, work was taking me to Omaha and finally had a chance to run with my longtime virtual running buddy. He picked me up at the hotel and drove me to one of his favorite running spots, Lake Zorinsky. Once there I took a quick picture of us (why oh why do I always looks so dorky in self portraits?)



and we were on our way. John agreed to run at my slow ultra pace and we planned to be out there for about three hours. He is not at all intrigued by marathons or ultras, preferring to run 10Ks and half marathons, so this was going to be his longest, slowest run ever.

Here are some pictures along the running route around the lake. The lake was drained several months ago for a zebra mussel infestation.




After almost 8 miles we returned to the parking lot to refill water bottles and met with an unpleasant surprise.



I had a change of clothes inside a hotel laundry bag. Unfortunately inside the pockets of my jeans were my IPhone and a wallet with my driver's license, credit card, debit card, etc. They also took John's phone and his gym bag.

So, our run was cut short and I spent the next hour or so on his computer and home phone getting everything canceled. I'm guessing these crooks were just stupid kids and not professionals since they didn't even attempt to use the credit card but did try to use the debit card at an ATM without the PIN. Several hours later I remembered I might have had my Health Savings Account card in there, so I checked online and sure enough they had used that. Once again they showed their lack of imagination and it looks like instead of electronics, they bought beer, beef jerky, and cigarettes.

Overall a positive run with my virtual running buddy, plus I got to meet his wife again, along with their dogs Fergie and Lucy and new grandbaby Emerson. (I just realized I listed his dogs ahead of his grandbaby, does that make me a bad person?)