Turkey Trot and Long Run

First I have to talk about Thursday's run. The whole family ran the Parkville 5k Turkey Trail Trot this year, the first time we've all been able to run it. My youngest, who is 8 years old, was particularly excited. I told her I would run with her and the older two girls could run with their cousin. The Wife and The Boy brought up the rear since they tend to run a little slower, and they did, coming in about three minutes after we did. The young one had never run more than 2.5 miles before, so I told her she could run or walk or whatever she wanted to do and I would stay with her. I soon found out how competitive she is.

We were a little behind her older sisters the first loop of the park, and then we kept passing and being passed by them on the second loop. When we made the final turn and had a straight shot at the finish line, I told her she could run fast if she wanted, and she took off like a shot. At the turn we were about ten yards ahead of her competitors (aka sisters), and they briefly tried to catch up but she wasn't about to be beaten by them. After my initial shock wore off I caught up to her and said, "Don't let them beat you!" I can only imagine the feelings of the people she passed, most of them over thirty years old and being beaten by an 8-year old. She won the family crown this year with a finishing time of 34:30. Let's just say she was proud of herself, and so was I. Maybe this is the beginning of something, huh?

Today's run was a little warmer than the below-freezing temperature of Thursday. It was almost 50 degrees when I finished, the sun was shining, and there was hardly a breeze. This was my final "long run," a 10-miler as I head into the final week before the race. I felt good all the way through. Just past nine miles the running podcast I was listening to played a short song to close out the podcast and said if you're running, you can do a quick pickup. So I did, and had no problems doing so. I think with a few days of keeping loose on the running and then three days off before the race I'll be fine. The goal is to get my virtual running partner at the finish line in under four hours. I'm hoping with my Garmin and a pace group we can measure by that we'll be able to make it.