It's 6:00 AM, and Dan is running clockwise in lane 9 of the 8-lane Brunswick Middle School Track. That's when the school buses in the adjacent parking begin warming up. This isn't supposed to happen until 6:30, laments Dan. His expectation is based on experience. Long, long ago experience. He hasn't run here in a long while, so it's just possible he could be wrong.
The thing is, Dan doesn't especially like to breathe diesel fumes. He's aware that others may feel differently, but probably not. Yesterday, he had been running with friends on Reagan Parkway when a truck went by, spewing diesel fumes. Blech, everyone said. Dan, channeling Robert Duval, kiddingly commented, "I love the smell of diesel in the morning!" Dan didn't want to breathe them then, and he didn't want to breathe them today, either. That's why he'd planned to leave the track at 6:30, before (he thought) the bus warmup routine.
Alas. He endures a few miles of fumes. They're not quite as bad as they could be; it depends on the wind.
The run itself is okay. Dan manages to get down to tempo pace for his time at the track. The weekend long run is looming.
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