The Evolution of a Runner - Part II

After my failed high school track experience, I'm pretty sure I did not run again-not for exercise anyway-until my freshman year of college. Early in my freshman year, one of my first college friends somehow convinced me to get up and run with him 2-3 mornings a week. I do not remember how this came about. But I distinctly remember peeling myself out of bed at some ungodly (particularly for a college student who didn't have class before 11:30) hour and running through Rolla with him. He would run over from his dorm on the other side of campus, calling me before he left, at which point I would either get up, get dressed and go meet him or tell him he was on his own. Then we would run this winding route through town, about a mile, turn around and come back. I would go back to bed until my 11:30 class. I don't recall how long this ritual lasted, maybe until it got really cold. He went off on a co-op the next semester and, despite remaining good friends, we never ran together again, that I can recall. In fact, I don't think I ever ran again while I was in college. I had a few other friends who were runners, people who would just go out and run, for fun. I remember being perplexed by that. They weren't on the track team, though they all were in high school. They weren't being chased. Many times they were running alone. Weird.