"Yeah, I was over to the track early this morning getting a few laps in"

I'm sure this is what the track walkers tell their spouses or friends or anyone else they talk to. They seem to have an affection for inside lane 1, the preferred lane for those for whom the measured track distances actually mean something...that being runners.

A typical high school or college track has 6 to 8 lanes, each 1.2 (it varies from track to track) meters in width and the inner most lane measuring out to precisely 400 meters. For a person executing an interval workout using a multiple of the set distance of 400 meters, that inner lane is crucial to having an accurate assessement of the workout and the current level of conditioning. Most walkers don't even know the lanes have a set distance, and many think all the lanes are the same distance...duh.

As I arrive this morning, not specifically to do a track workout but just to use the parameters to help set pace on this moderately easy run, I arrive in total darkness with the venue all to myself, opting to run clockwise this time to balance out impact forces inherent in running in continuous left turns in the conventional (counterclockwise) direction. As dawn breaks, they arrive and promptly start their stroll on the innermost lane drawn like a floating spitball spiralling towards the inner vortex of the bathtub water going down the drain. Sometimes they actually get mad at me, as though I'm invading their preallocated space. I'm pretty accomodating and will vere around them when necessary but I'm also not above ensuring they feel a sudden rush of sweat laden hot air blowing across their neckline...usually this prompts them to shift left (or right) 1.2 meters. Sometimes 2.4. Sometimes 8.4. Since a hard 400 will be accompanied by short explusions of saliva, this can also have an effect, keeping in mind this isn't intentional but it's surprising difficult to either spit or swallow at these times so fluids will go wherever air goes...mostly outward bound in random directions.

This morning I circuited the course 25 times to total 10,000 meters in a bit over 50 minutes, not including the kilometer between the track and my house and my warmup laps in the muddy confines of the nearby park. The walkers continued towards their habitual 8 to 10 laps which they'll complete some time long after I've left, their cardiovascular system thoroughly cleared by the rush of blood through their arteries. In all fairness, good for them to be out walking, but surely there must be far more interesting things to see along the streets than lane 1 of the local track.