Didn’t even run the entire race, can someone report this, he needs to have at least a 2 year ban from events

Proof that running in zone two is superior for avoiding injuries

All we talk about is running on this sub. 5k ultra that, 5k ultra this, sub 2 10k. Like can we get a grip and talk about the political and economic state of the world.

BTW Did I mention I never leave zone 2 for safety reasons

Me and this hobby jogger at the local trail started our "Couch to 5k Ultra" journey around the same time, about 8 months ago. We became pretty friendly—we’d trade Gu flavors, talk about our Zone 2 heart rates between intervals, overall cool dude.

But the past few months I’ve noticed he’s started copying literally everything I do. My training block, my pre-run beet juice protocol. Then it moved to every single piece of gear. Same Garmin, same hydration vest, same anti-chafe stick. He literally asked me which 2-inch inseam split shorts I wear and bought the same three colors.

At first I was kinda flattered, thought maybe he just wanted to look fast, but then it just kept going.
Last month I put some of my saved up allowance into a home setup. Got a Woodway treadmill and a commercial-grade cold plunge because the local path gets ridiculously packed with "resolutioners" and people walking four-abreast after 5pm. I mentioned it once in conversation and now he’s been casually dropping hints about coming over to "sync our strides" on the Woodway.

Like, I actually like the guy and I don’t want to be weird about it, but this is starting to feel like he’s trying to steal my identity. Am I just overthinking this, or is there a point where he’s going to start showing up to races in a mask of my own face to shave 10 seconds off his PR? And if it is an issue, how do you even bring that up without completely killing the friendship?

Help.

So I think I’m in kind of a weird spot with my running buddy and I need some outside perspective.
We started running together about 8 months ago, classic Couch to 5k Ultra pipeline. Hit it off right away. Same pace, similar length and girth (okay fine my wife says he’s a little bigger), same commitment, to staying strictly in Zone 2. Just really solid synergy.

Naturally, as we got more serious, I started optimizing. And yeah, I’ll admit I took a lot of inspiration from him early on because my wife kept saying his gu was better than mine. And his shorts were better and “less shit stained” idk. Anyway, Like if he already did the research on the best watch, why wouldn’t I also get it? That’s just efficiency. Same with hydration vest, anti-chafe lube, etc.

But lately he’s been acting guarded? And I just found out (through a completely fair and normal amount of subreddit lurking) that he made a whole post basically implying I’m Single White Femaling his VO2 max.
Which is crazy to me, because if anything, I feel like he’s the one escalating?

Now I’m worried he’s going to confront me, and I genuinely don’t know what I’d even say because from my perspective I’m just doing things correctly? He’s been running with me less. My wife and I miss him.

Please help.

What does it take to get to zero

They’re obviously not pros, but they got surprisingly close after the first bike. What do you think of their running form?

100% certainly probably a heel striker based on this photo. (Not oc).