Off season? I'll stop for any friend but try and keep it brief. You said "fitness run" in December, so I don't worry about it affecting gains.
In season tempo runs? Then they just get a wave.

No. I run right by them and pretend I don't see them. And if for some reason they get in my way, I push them aside and keep going. After all, that is what you do in a race, don't you? It's good practice. Seriously though, I say hi to people I don't know and if it is someone I know, I stop and talk to them. I don't really worry about it interrupting my training, because I have found that it takes a long time for my heart rate to drop, most people don't seem to want to talk for more than a few minutes anyways, so it really doesn't seem to matter. Sometimes I will even pop in for a visit, I just don't take them up on their offer for cocktails. I just ask for water instead. I am generally only seriously training when I am doing an interval run at the track, and no one is ever there. On the bike I will brake for many reasons. For example..lost people who need directions, dogs who run in front of my bike, cars, children, runners, intersecting roads, mountain bikers, deer, bunnies, squirrels, snakes, frogs, large tree branches...and once even a bat. And I never start my workout over. I always use my garmin, and I have it on autopause mode, so it stops automatically which is a really nice feature.

When I take my dog he has 5 or 6 favorite spots to stop for quick marking. When trail running I will stop if I see a cool bird or other animal.

my garage
(...now!)

we just toasted my fixie, bike rack & factory roof rack
i had a sidewall blowout on my way to an appointment and my wife kindly picked me up. we were deep in conversation when we heard some unfortunate folding metal sounds

:(

I stop at every summit (even the one i see 4x per week), awesome view and cool animal/plant.
During my last race, I stood at the turn around point and just marveled at the scenery. (Gore Range, Zirkels, Flattops....ooooooooooeeeeeee!) .

I "pull over" for mountain bikers going downhill, and obnoixiously scream "on your left" when I pass them going up the next hill...

I don't worry about how long I stop, usually I'll take a couple minutes to chat with people too.

Ironically, I don't stop to pee.

[quote=tri-ac]my garage
(...now!)

we just toasted my fixie, bike rack & factory roof rack
i had a sidewall blowout on my way to an appointment and my wife kindly picked me up. we were deep in conversation when we heard some unfortunate folding metal sounds

:([/quote]

was SHE driving? Holy C#$@!

[quote=jtrimom][quote=tri-ac]my garage
(...now!)

we just toasted my fixie, bike rack & factory roof rack
i had a sidewall blowout on my way to an appointment and my wife kindly picked me up. we were deep in conversation when we heard some unfortunate folding metal sounds

:([/quote]

was SHE driving? Holy C#$@!
[/quote]

yes, i feel bad for her as it was somewhat inevitable (the garage is new to us this year) and it could have just as easily been me.

although the guilt guarantees sympathy in the bike repair costs

Gooo, that is terrible. But I think you might get a nicer bike out of the mess. My girlfriend was semi-responsible for my bike getting stolen so she was very supportive of me buying a new one.

Back to the topic at hand though; I don't like to stop. It makes me feel like I'm cheating. But I'll almost always stop if someone wants to talk out of courtesy. I just dread it so I try to avoid people/places when running. Everything has it's own time.

[quote=tri-ac][quote=jtrimom][quote=tri-ac]my garage
(...now!)

we just toasted my fixie, bike rack & factory roof rack
i had a sidewall blowout on my way to an appointment and my wife kindly picked me up. we were deep in conversation when we heard some unfortunate folding metal sounds

:([/quote]

you could totally milk it for whatever you want for a long time :) especially if you cry a little ;)

was SHE driving? Holy C#$@!
[/quote]

yes, i feel bad for her as it was somewhat inevitable (the garage is new to us this year) and it could have just as easily been me.

although the guilt guarantees sympathy in the bike repair costs[/quote]

OUCH! That's how I got my last tri bike however. I drove into my own stupid garage with my last bike on top. But it was old anyways and it was sure nice to have a perfect excuse to get a new one ;-)

[quote=tri-ac][quote=jtrimom][quote=tri-ac]my garage
(...now!)

we just toasted my fixie, bike rack & factory roof rack
i had a sidewall blowout on my way to an appointment and my wife kindly picked me up. we were deep in conversation when we heard some unfortunate folding metal sounds

:([/quote]

was SHE driving? Holy C#$@!
[/quote]

yes, i feel bad for her as it was somewhat inevitable (the garage is new to us this year) and it could have just as easily been me.

although the guilt guarantees sympathy in the bike repair costs[/quote]

A junky garage and the fact that I'm way too short to even consider a roof rack will protect me from
this particular disaster.

My sympathies.