On the Trail: Guilt is a great running partner

ASPEN ” On more than one occasion last weekend, your girlfriend’s little dog laid down in the middle of the Ute Trail hoping someone, anyone, would get the clue.

There were a few times when you felt like joining her. Since running the Bolder Boulder at the end of May, your once-daily runs have become a thing of the past ” and your fitness has suffered.

You blame it on working two jobs, your taxing rec-league softball schedule, your jam-packed social calendar … anything, really, to make you feel better about falling out of shape.

Even though softball is only two nights a week, at most, and your social calendar pretty much revolves around postgame celebrations at Zane’s.

Still, to get back on the trail, you decided drastic measures were in order. You needed motivation in the worst way. Knowing yourself like you do, you realized that nothing motivates you better than guilt.

So, on Monday, while in Boulder, you went out and bought a new pair of $120 running shoes. With tax, the bill came to about 140 bucks.

You tried to justify the purchase to your shocked girlfriend by arguing that you needed new running shoes anyway. You also pointed out that the salesman had meticulously scoured the Boulder Running Co.’s large stock room for the perfect pair of shoes, a jewel of a find that held up to extensive testing on a a treadmill and in short jogs around the sales floor.

“They’re the most comfortable running shoes I’ve ever worn,” you protested.

“Ooooookay …” was all your girlfriend had to say. You knew what she was thinking. She thought that you’d been hustled.

You know better, though. Hustled? Not at all.

As long as those expensive shoes guilt you back into running every day, they’re worth every penny.

All 14,000.

npeterson@aspentimes.com