To talk to this girl

[Oysterbabe]

I’ve been walking the same route to work for about a year and inevitably see a lot of the same people every day. What they may or may not know is that I am secretly racing them. There is one girl in particular who is usually walking up my road as I leave the house. She’s pretty fast and sometimes she overtakes me and sometimes I stay ahead of her. We’ve never made eye contact or spoken but I feel sure that knows that we’re racing and I’m sure she purposely swishes her ponytail at me as she’s overtaking. She wears very cloppy shoes so I can usually hear her approaching from behind even when I have my headphones on.

I’m 23 weeks pregnant now and getting a bit slower as my hip has been giving me a bit of bother. She wins most days and this is just going to get worse. This morning I set off down the road and straightaway could hear clop clop clop so I upped the pace a bit, determined to at least beat her to the traffic lights at the bottom of the hill. It was going pretty well as her clops got a bit faster too but weren’t getting any louder so I thought I was holding her. Upped the pace a bit more to the point where I had a bit of a light sweat on and still no sign of her overtaking. Made it to the lights first (yes!) and risked a glance back over my shoulder and saw that no one was there. Was a bit puzzled by this until I started walking again, heard the clop clop clop and realised that my keys had been knocking against my phone in my bag when I walked and this was what I had been hearing.

While finishing my walk to work at a rather more leisurely pace I started thinking about how I’m probably slightly mad. Do other people secretly race to work? Would it be unreasonable if next time I smiled at my swishy haired opponent and maybe said good morning? Would this be breaking some kind of commuter grand prix rule? To be honest she doesn’t look very friendly but maybe she’s just focused on the race.

[diggerdigsdogs]

I do this too.

[LeaveMyWingsBehindMe]

Please don't stop being mad.

[Senpai]

I wonder if the people that walk past me are racing now.

I've done it a few times. I like to treat other walkers like cars and do an silent "honking" motion when they get too slow. It does look like a bit like mime pushing, and one lady caught me "mime honking/pushing" at her and yelled at me because apparently she had two children or something.

I try to keep imaginary beeping to just my head now.

[ThumbWitchesAbroad]

You are a lovely sort of bonkers and your OP made me really smile too!

I think you should talk to her in stages - just "ha, you win today!" sort of thing; or "warm/cold/wet today, isn't it?"
but also agree with slowing it down the more pregnant you get - and if you do feel any nasty clicks in your pelvis that hurt you, see a physio/osteopath who is used to dealing with pregnant ladies so they can check and if necessary realign your symphisis pubis (as that's likely to be what's clicked - speaking from experience!)

Good luck in your walking and congratulations on your pregnancy. :)

[LeaveMyWingsBehindMe]

I think this is genuinely one of the best OPs I have ever read.

[BestIsWest]

You are not alone OP.

[FindoGask]

I have secretly raced people in similar situations but the one bit of your post I found slightly mad was the idea that you might actually talk to this woman. Then you'd have to talk to her every day! Gnargh. There's a woman who has started talking to me at the bus stop in the mornings, she's very nice but the social pressure is crippling me. I just want to stare into space in peace.

[MythicalKings]

I have found my people.

My favourite "secret race" is from many years ago when I used to walk the DSs to school.

There was a side road on our route and another mother (going to the nursery attached to the school) used to join our lane which had a narrow pavement. She had a twin buggy and a dog and it was impossible to overtake her if she got in front of us. It was my secret mission every morning to be past the turning before she came out.

One morning DS2 was being particularly tardy and time was running out. In exasperation DS1 (aged 6) told him to hurry up or the "dog and buggy woman" would be in front of us. I was shocked for a second or two but then we made eye contact in affirmation of our mutual goal.

It's still one of my proudest moments. He truly is my son.

[LeaveMyWingsBehindMe]

She wins most days and this is just going to get worse.

I love that you have obviously given a great deal of thought to this. and It's clearly of huge importance to you.

[Lweji]

Not only I race them at speed but I also navigate crowds while racing people.
Like in an F1 start or American stock car race. We try to beat each other overtaking the slow ones. And the teams groups of people who just block the way.

In the car, I stick to the speed limit on a stretch of road, where I'm usually overtaken, then catch up on the curve, and definitely park faster than pretty much everyone. On reverse too.

Except when I was pregnant, so, OP, take it easy.

[everydaysaschoolday]

I do this every day on the way home from work, there's a man , let's call him 'Vapor Man' who does the exact same journey, bus then metro. We get on the bus at the same stop,as the bus pulls into the metro station I try to get off the bus before him to gain the first advantage, I then proceed to race him down three sets of stairs and escalators underground to get to the metro first. If I see the escalators are full I take the stairs in order to race down first. Sometimes he cheats and takes the stairs but walks down right in the middle so I can't get passed! At the bottom we then race each other to the correct position for a particular carriage on the metro. I think he is fully aware this is a serious race .

[PiratesLifeForMe]

Oh I do this! So glad other people do (I'm normal!!)

I remember meeting my boyfriend after work all flustered (I'd won my race but only just) and explaining that the couple I race were walking past us right now! Losers!

They always took one route, I took another but could see them through the streets as I walked along and we all always ended up on my road....I got halfway through my story before he asked 'and do they know they're in a race?' 'No, of course not, I'm not going to tell them am l? That's mad! I don't cheat tho, no running...'

That's roughly about the point I realised how it all sounded out loud.

I still do it tho

[ThreeRuddyTubs]

What a beautiful gift this thread has been this morning! Particularly the OP, the skipping elderly woman and the barracuda

[londonrach]

Reni...oh the bells, the bells. Yes dh and i race the local church bells too. If we not across the green by the bells chime we will miss the train....

[PootlingBee]

This thread made me smile. I used to have an hour and a half walk home at 4am so there weren't many people about so I raced cars. When I saw a car coming down the road I would race to get to the second or third lamppost by the time it passed.

[reni2]

Looking at this thread my secret covert races no longer feel so secret, now I know you lot are all out there racing me. At least I now have a race commentary running in my head.

[ThreeBeanRap]

Yessss Reni that's great, keep it going. I forgot until this morning when I was doing it, but there are steps at the train station up to the platform and if I've had a particularly good race I imagine I've just won the cup and am going up to collect my prize. Sometimes the commentators talk about how I am clearly exhausted from the race (if the steps are feeling particularly steep) but other times they marvel at how I'm springing up them as if I hadn't just got the world record in whatever race it is I'm competing in. It's great to get to the top but slightly disappointing each morning when no cup actually awaits me.

[reni2]

I did a commentary on hanging a load of washing out yesterday . Here she comes, will she go for the socks first, no, she goes for the big stuff, couple of t-shirts, school trousers, oh, she dropped the pegs losing valuable seconds, there she goes, pants next, now there are the tights already and she is off on the final stretch, slowing a little to turn the socks outside out, ooo- she's pairing them up, interesting tactic there, now only the children's socks left, edge of the seat stuff, and she's done in 3 minutes, a personal best.

I feel a bit special now, but it did help.

[anotherdayanothersquabble]

My husband is a cyclist and tracks his ride on Strava (some sort of on line map my bike ride thing). There are a few other Dad's at school who also cycle and also track their rides on Strava, they are not friends just kind of secret rivals, one is quicker than DH and one is slower. There is a particular stretch of road where they can get up some speed and they cheer themselves when they get an all time best on that stretch. It makes me (and the other wives) laugh at their juvenile behaviour!!!

[thornrose]

I have a daily race with a schoolboy on a bike. I'm in a car!

Little beggar rides down the middle of the side street and I can't overtake him.

He looks back then does a sort of wheelie up on to the pavement and allows me to pass.

I might take the side street before our usual one and emerge victorious one day, in front of him, ha!

[Oysterbabe]

I'll have you know I still hold a Strava queen of the mountain for a stretch on my old commute

[anotherdayanothersquabble]

Love it Oysterbabe!! Was anyone else logging times on that stretch??

[Oysterbabe]

There's loads of men but only one other woman, hence I have QOM.

[reni2]

Do you have usernames on Strava? Can you change yours to "Eat dust other women on this mountain"?

[anotherdayanothersquabble]

I would love the title Queen of the Mountain, perhaps I should create a profile, borrow DS's bike, there aren't many cyclists who go on this route so I would stand a good chance!!