Track rant. (Read 552 times)

I did a track workout today, 5x1000 @ 5k pace. I get to the track and guy1 is walking around. I stretch. I notice guy1 is doing 100 yard sprints on a straightaway and then walking 300m. He's staying in lane 1. I do my first 1000 and guy1 never gets out of lane 1. I do my 200m recoveries in lane 4. During my first recovery, I noticed guy2 enter a gate with his dog. No. Please, no dog. Guy2 begins to walk around the track in lane 1, with his dog, in lanes 1-whatever. He is carrying a chuck-it in one hand and a plastic bag of dog poop in the other. To top it off, he is waving his arms really high like the leader of a drill team. I had to pass guy2 + guy1 during each of my reps using lane 2 or 3. I even had to dodge guy2's wandering dog that was walking all over each lane! Ugh. Crazy stuff. Lucky I didn't get poop on me.

I always have to deal with this on the track near my house. The worst is the group of 4-5 large women that decide they need to walk side-by-side from lane 1 out. Especially when they act surprised/spooked every time I pass them. Of course, ankle issues have mostly removed me from the track since early June, so I'm not sure why I'm still complaining. At least the people that I see with dogs usually know to stay in lane 8.

Doesn't sound too crazy - I can think of a number of reasons to "hike" on a track. I've often considered the same - how would I break in new boots, test fit my pack loadout, calibrate a hiking pedometer (seems the most likely scenario), establish your baseline pace, work out the kinks/get in shape for upcoming hike, etc. if you lived in the city and didn't want to drive out to the countryside to a trail for this sort of thing, or on a weeknight, etc.