A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.
Ogden Nash
It is always a good day when I speak with Sarah and she states that the kids are off to school. That means one part of our family unit is astray, the common cold. I believe it makes our unit stronger when there is an absence of sickness.
Last night we had another occasion to eat dinner as a family unit. I made homemade Chinese food, which is a hit, except for Grace who hates the broccoli mixed in the sauce. We finished the dinner with the remnants of the Smore Pie I made on Sunday. It is still good after a couple of days. Homework was finished early and we all had a good evening just hanging out in the home.
I awoke to the alarm at 5AM. I was still trying to catch up on the lack of sleep from Sunday night, which holds true since I have not woke before the alarm in the last two nights.
Wednesday morning is track workout. It was questionable by the amount of rain that pounded north of Atlanta in our next of the woods last night. This morning the air was thick and temped compared to the last couple of mornings we have had. After the rain last night, the outside morning was in the low 50’s, humid and a blanket of fog had rested over Suwanee/Alpharetta on my way to LTF.
We had an assemblage of runners for this morning’s track work out waiting in the lobby after I did a warm up mile on the treadmill to get the kinks out. Jay, Jeff, Ann Marie, Susan, Stacy and a new addition, Sammy were all ready to trot off to the Alpharetta High School.
The band of runners left the LTF parking lot and made small talk down Webb Bridge to the high school. Once we arrived, a few of us did our scouting run of the track to remove debris like: wood, gutter gates and hoses. We marked the 200M point with trashcans on both side and everyone started to zone in for the workout.
The majority of the group was performing this workout on different intervals:
3 X (2 X 1200M) with 2-minute rest and 4-minute rest between sets. Intervals for the runners was between 4:40 and 5:40.
Since I am on a different plan, my schedule was:
200M (200RI) @ :35
400M (400M RI) @ 1:23
600M (400M RI) @ 2:07
800M (400M RI) @ 2:51
800M (400M RI) @ 2:51
600M (400M RI) @ 2:07
400M (400M RI) @ 1:23
200M (200RI) @ :35
I came in on the mark within 1-2 seconds faster than the required goal.
As the session continued around the oval, I gave a few of the "track stars" a few pointers on how to take the turns and to focus on form. I could see after a few 1200M’s their running form was suffering from being fatigued. The form is “key” in the long workout. Focus on the form this will drive efficiency in your stride allowing you to maintain a consistent pace for a longer period.
Both Jay and Ann Marie indicated to me that they hit almost every 1200M too fast. I hope this will not affect them in their goal to pace for Huntsville in 7 weeks.
After the workout, we all headed back to LTF. Ann Marie and I talked about logistics getting to Huntsville and back home. She is wondering if there will be anything left of her after the run to make the 280-mile trek back. She thought that she, Stacy and Michele could take turns on driving. I offered my services as well and said they could ride with Sarah and I in the van. This way they would not have to worry about the trip back. The offer is out and if they want to take it, they are welcome to tag along for the 4 ½ trip…Another question Ann Marie asked me which I have been contemplating over is if I am coaching anyone on running. I told her no, I was just supporting the 6 runners on the Furman Plan. I did not mention to her, but I have thought of pursuing a coaching certificate in running or in triathlons to help other runners achieve their goals. I think I will wait until after Huntsville to see how everyone does before I take the leap though. If they succeed, then I will move ahead with the idea of coaching on the side.
Update on Bob, he ran the 1200M’s in Minnesota. The weather was in the low 40’s and just like Jay & Ann Marie Bob was too fast. I emailed Bob and told him that I am done with the comments on "too fast". They know what to do, let us see them do it.
The kids have half days for the next three days. With no cheerleading practice tonight, we will carve pumpkins, go to a Haunted House or maybe even hit a movie, which would be very uncharacteristic of us during a school week.
Sometimes you need to throw caution to the wind and have a little out of the ordinary fun with the family.
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