Be Safe, Have Fun & Go For A Run

I did my 6.37 mile loop on Friday.  Pretty uneventful.  Yesterday, however, I ran 6.19 miles at Eisenhower Park with my two fellow bloggers, The Petite Pacer and Emerging Runner!  Ordinarily, I would be nervous in any other meet-someone-whom-I-only-interacted-with-online-for-the-first-time situation, but I couldn't have been more at ease.  Of course, it was exciting to finally meet them in person after reading their blogs for so long, but I was quite comfortable because I already felt like I knew them.  They are both down to earth and easy to be with.  So much so that after we ran together for an hour (yes, we took our time), we chatted for another hour over coffee.  Running was the main topic, of course.  It's great to talk about running with others who are just as passionate about the subject.  As expected, the Emerging Running was an expert on all the running tech gadgets and the Petite Pacer shared her vast knowledge on the physiological benefits of the sport.  Not sure what I brought to the table, other than my winning smile and amazing sense of humor...they put up with me.  I'm looking forward to running with them again in the future.

left to right:  Emerging Runner, POTUS, and The Petite Pacer

Here are some helpful tips for meeting people from the internet for the first time:

1.  Do so only if all parties have agreed.  Showing up where you know someone runs regularly without telling him/her   first only makes for an awkward first meeting and will likely involve the police.

2.  Do so only if you have seen photographs of who you are going to meet beforehand.  These photographs should not include booking numbers:

3.  Do so only if  you and the other party have had multiple correspondence.  If the other party's correspondence include such phrases as "I've been watching you" or "My parole officer thinks you're a positive role model", it might be best to cease correspondence immediately.  Changing your email address is highly recommended.

4.  If the other party has told you, "I'm really, really hot" or "You can trust me" or "I have never been convicted of a felony",  assume the opposite is true.

5.  Meet in a public place.  It is always good to have witnesses...just in case.

Seriously, use your best judgment.  On the flip side, meeting people, bloggers in particular, can be fantastic!  You've read about their experiences, received advice, cooked their recipes, worn their sneakers, shared in their achievements and disappointments.  Meeting them can be like meeting an old friend or a rock star (likely, what Emerging Runner and Petite Pacer felt when they met me...HA! kidding!).  Be safe and have fun!  And go for a run.