“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”
Last night I completed the replacement of the struts and shocks on the van. I have a little tweaking of the left strut since it is making a bit of noise but that should be a minor adjustment. To complete a project or repair without hiring someone to do it for me is always a sense of accomplishment for me.
During the night and into the morning the rain came down in buckets. The wind howled and the trees shook releasing a majority of their leaves. I will need to do some clean-up around the house on Sunday to remove the blanket of brown leaves that are covering the yard in the front and back.
Today was the last run for the Wonder Twins, Ann Marie and Michelle prior to the marathon on Saturday. Sarah and Wren are running the 3 mile run tomorrow. I received a message from Tracey yesterday seeing if I could answer a few questions about the upcoming weekend and her run. We have yet to connect but I will attempt to contact her today.
As I woke I could still hear the rain hitting against the window in the bedroom. I was meeting Ann Marie, Michelle and Susan for the last training run at 5:15AM. My plan was to run this with them and then meet the Wonder Twins for their 3 miler at 5:45AM. I packed two sets of running attire; one for cold, rainy outside weather and another for treadmill running. I was not sure what the consensus would be for the run, either inside or out.
I met Michelle and Susan in the lobby about 5:10AM. We had normal short talk, which was fine since it was so early in the morning still. All 3 of us looked half asleep as we sacked out on the couches waiting for Ann Marie. By 5:25AM and no Ann Marie, Michelle and I decided to take off on the run. Susan was going to wait around to see if she showed.
I had decided we would run the MARTA-Westside PKY loop this morning. It is a 3.3 mile loop that begins and ends at LTF. The rain had let up by the time we started the run. My goal was to hang on Michelle’s shoulder the entire time and let her dominate the pace. Out of the gate, I knew we were too fast, but I paced myself by her step until she looked at her Garmin and saw that we were running sub 8’s. At that point she eased off and fell into a groove at a more sustainable speed.
By the time, we hit Windward and the low grade climb to Westside PKY the pace had settled to 8:20’s or so. I continued to stay in step with her and not get ahead of her pace. By being ahead of her and setting the pace she would stay stride-for-stride with me which would defeat the purpose of the 3 mile marathon pace run.
Onto Westside PKY the pace was very comfortable. I said to Michelle to control the pace on the 1.1 mile downhill on Westside. She managed the downhill portion as we turned on to Morris and head up to LTF.
The time was 5:52AM and I knew the Wonder Twins would have not waited so, I said good-bye to Michelle, told her I would see her tomorrow and I headed back out the door. I figured that the Wonder Twins did not give the 5-minute wait rule so they had at least 8 minute head start on me which would had been almost a mile. Even at a sub 7, I would have caught up with them within a quarter mile of the completion of the run. I decided to run the course in the opposite direction and meet up with the Wonder Twins at the halfway mark.
I took off down Morris onto Academy to Westside PKY. This way on the route is uphill on Westside. The hill is not a heavy hill but a long gradual incline to Windward. I headed up Westside and almost at the half way point on the parkway I was 3 shadowy figures careening down the road towards me.
It was the Wonder Twins and Bill. Bill is one of Bob’s friends that tagged along for the run. I turned and fell into stride with the Twins and Bill. Bob was leading the way as Jay flicked his wrist back and forth to monitor the pace. The pace was a little fast (as usual) but at this point this 3 miler was not going to have an effect on them at a faster than race pace speed.
We finished on Westside, turned left on Academy and headed towards Morris. Bill dropped as soon as we made the turn on Academy as we continued to the final 3 mile destination. Once we hit the mark, we turned to meet Bill back at the corner. The four of us walked/jogged the rest of the way to LTF.
The Wonder Twins are ready. I see it in their faces, I see it in their attitude and I see it in their runs.
The next two days are preparing to leave on Friday. My parents are staying at our Bed & Breakfast tonight as they pass threw on their way to Texas. They are continually supporters of their adult children in our endeavors, from my Ironman Events to my sister Nicole’s are festivals and now they are on their way to lend support to their baby daughter, Tracey in her first marathon.
We each have areas that we excel in and give our best. For my parents it is the continual support of their adult children and their grandchildren that we appreciate.
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