I run marathons. Before any of you start thinking 'sublimation of sexual desires', I'd like to say it is no such thing. I quite enjoy sex when I have a steady boyfriend. I'm just not into one night stands. I also happen to like running. I've been doing it ever since I was a child.
Marathons are fun. They're long distance runs, named after the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens. (I tossed that in to educate you. You may be no wiser, but you're now better informed.)
Seeing as how marathons are long distance you have to keep your training up. Miss a week or two of training and you're history the next time you try to do the long run, so I stick to my training regime. Part of that regime is running in the mountains. It would be nice if all marathons were held on the flat, but they're not. If you don't want to find yourself relegated to the back of the pack every time you encounter a hill, train on hills.
This Saturday I was up in the mountains, running. I'd parked low down and was just going to do ten miles, five uphill and five down. (Downhill needs just as much practice as uphill or you find yourself wasting energy and charging ahead instead of pacing yourself.)
So there I was, high in the sky, trotting along the road. To my right was a magnificent view, one of the advantages of being up in the mountains. There were birds and wildlife and only the very occasional vehicle would pass me.
Just ahead of me the road did a U-turn, doubling back on itself. There was a rest area at the tip of the U, which I assumed served a couple of purposes. Speedsters would find themselves slowed by the gravel and they would have room to complete the tight turn, rather than find themselves sailing out into the wild blue yonder and discovering that gravity is a bitch. The other reason would be for people who just wanted to pull off the road and enjoy the view.
Even as I approached the turn a car came purring past me and the driver pulled into the rest area. Now I wasn't paying any real attention to the car and was only vaguely aware that the driver had got out of the car. What did capture my attention was the driver grabbing me as I trotted past and pushing me up against the car.