Strangers in the Night

First impressions.  When I plan to meet someone for the first time, I will make sure my clothes are just right (this is now defined as clean, somewhat wrinkle-free and purchased after 2005).  I will make sure to brush my hair, brush my teeth and maybe even put on some of my now very old make-up.  When meeting the new person, I typically am careful not to say too much....or too little...and I make sure to keep the conversation light.  After all, I want the person to like me before I let them in on all of my deepest, darkest secrets.  Ha!

So, it's interesting to me that despite this painstaking preparation and I'll admit it, nerves, that surround meeting someone for the first time, none of it exists when I meet someone new for a run in the middle of the night.

I was thinking about this the other day when I joined a new morning mile mate for a 5:30 run.  My dirty hair was thrown into a pony tail, my clothes did happen to be clean but not for long as I was soon sweating in the muggy March air and I only had time for one thing before I left: coffee or brushing my teeth.  Of COURSE, I chose the latter.  Ahem.  I did mention that I woke up at 5 am to run at 5:30, right?  I do promise that I remembered to brush my teeth when I returned home. 

We ran the first mile, with the usual small talk that accompanies a first meeting, but after we settled into a good pace, we easily delved into subjects revolving children, finances and of all things - stomach bugs.  Not exactly light-hearted conversations.  By the end of the run, I felt lucky to have been up early to talk to a friend.  And by the end, it honestly didn't even feel like a new friend anymore.

This isn't the first time that this has happened.  It's actually happened several times.  Maybe there is something about meeting someone in the dark that allows you to lose all inhibitions and just be yourself.  Maybe it's that you're both grunting and groaning through the same hills and it doesn't matter how different your lives are outside of that moment when you're in that one battle together.  And maybe it's the fact that you've got someone who is just as smelly and sweaty as you are and who understands what it's like to love being up at an insane hour, sweating out your stresses, pushing yourself a little further than you did the last time. 

The craziest part about meeting a new friend in the dark morning for a run is that you could walk right by them that very same day in Target....and not even know it was them....unless you heard their voice. 

If you're lucky enough, the new friends will turn into old friends and you won't even have to talk anymore.  It's just enough to hear another set of friendly footsteps alongside you in the dark.