Day Fifty One - "Off Season"

Real athletes run others just play games
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The runners have finished their past 20-mile run of this training program. Sarah & Wren ran Thursday morning, Bob & Jay ran Thursday night, Tracey ran with her friend, Kellie in Dallas and Ann Marie ran with a group at the Columns. These athletes have proven that dedication and devotion to running pays off.

After work on Friday, I met Bob for a couple of beers at Taco Mac in Alpharetta. Bob is looking ready to achieve the goal of qualifying. I could have sworn he looked “jacked” enough to run the marathon today! I am glad that he is the zone and understands the importance of everything he does has a major impact on his run.

After a few pops with Bob, I called Sarah and met her and Grace at the Taco Mac by our house. We had a nice dinner and talked about our week and the night that was about to come. Sarah and Grace along with Grace’s friend purchased tickets to the movie “New Moon” for later that night. The show starts at 10PM, which is too late for me.

Saturday morning I slept in until 7AM. I planned on traveling down to the Columns to run a portion of Ann Marie’s 20 miler with her since I had ran with everyone else on this plan (except for Tracey).

I arrived at the Columns at 9:10AM. I was amazed at the number of runners and bikers along Columns Drive. The parking lot was full and I had to wait 5 minutes until someone pulled out for me to get a spot to park.

I paid my $3.00 parking fee and decided to head in the opposite direction on the trail which loops around the park area in hopes of coming up on Ann Marie and the gang. Almost a mile into my tracking down run I came up on Ann Marie, Susan, Chris and Stacy. They were approximately 11 miles into the 20 and all four of them looked strong.

We ran back the direction I once came and headed out onto Column Drive out & back for 5 miles. 1.5 miles in I dropped back and ran with Stacy for a couple of miles since her pace was little slower than the rest. At the turnaround, Stacy said I could run ahead and catch up to the runners ahead. I stayed with Stacy for another mile and then decided to kick it and make my up to the front group.

Once I caught up to Ann Marie, Chris & Susan we were less than a mile from the park entrance. When we approached the entrance, everyone headed to his or her cars to restock their fluids and we were off. This portion of the run was the last 3.4 miles of the run.

At the end of the run every looked strong, finished strong and had completed the last of their 20 miler.

This distance of 20 miles is not only a physical challenge but mental as well. Each one of these runners has conquered the mental aspect of the run and are ready physically to attack Huntsville.

Jonathan, Ann Marie, Me, Susan, Stacy & Chris