What is wrong with me???

I'm not sure what happened a couple of weeks ago, but I'm sad and embarrassed to tell you that it wasn't my proudest moment. It was my first ever 18 miler and I was pretty nervous about it. My usual running partners were not in attendance and I was not real comfortable with the route. Thankfully I found a buddy to run with, one who talks a great deal, so I could sit back and listen to story after story. Nirvana.

We hit the 9 mile mark, which also happened to be a TNT designated "water stop". Now for those of you who have not trained with a group as fantastic as Team in Training, here is what a typical water stop looks like: a table or trunk of a car decked out with TNT gear. 2 large jugs of cold liquid and cups, one water and one a sports drink. Hard candy. A salty snack (like pretzels). Paper towels. Goo, energy bars, shot blocks, sports beans, etc. It is like a mini Super USA. I feel like the water stops every few miles are critical to the success of every participant. Much organizing goes into the water stops for the day...mainly getting the volunteers to agree to sit out for hours on end filling cups for participants and managing the garbage.

This brings me to the point where I will share my not so proud moment. As I was lounging at the water stop at Lake Harriet chatting with other TNT participants, a young woman ran up to the water stop (clearly not a TNT participant) took a cup, filled it with water and drank it. Now, I'm not heartless, I feel compassion for the thirsty like everyone else. But for some reason, I blurted out, "What event are you doing?". This question was asked in the hope that I might not have met this TNT participant yet and that I could take this opportunity to welcome her to the TNT group. Her reply, "No event. I'm just out for a run and I got thirsty". Then she asked, "Is that OK?" Now, I didn't answer her verbally. I did, however, give her the look of death. I didn't mean to though. I was just protecting "our" beverages like they were my children.

She backed away slowly, obviously scared that I might burn a hole through her body with my fierce stink eye. I turned back to the small TNT group who had gathered for their water break in the meantime and they were all silent and staring. A couple of them were absolutely shocked at my rudeness, as was I! What is wrong with me that I was so unwilling to share with this poor thirsty woman? I am going to go ahead and blame exhaustion and fatigue. I don't think there really is an excuse for my terrible behavior though. If I see this woman again I will surely apologize.

I just want to say, however, if you are running around the lakes (or anywhere) and you see a water stop that is so obviously marked for a particular running group, just ASK before just grabbing yourself a drink. Really now.....