Eight Miles in Spotty Weather

The fact that the Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon occurred today in Nashville is a bitter reminder that a year ago, I could run / walk a half marathon. Today, eight miles seemed like plenty. Despite a rainy start to training, most of the time it was cool and cloudy but with very little rain. And after a couple of miles, I wished I could trade my long sleeved shirt for a tee.
The physical issues I discussed yesterday were not a problem. Lots of body glide and a “men’s sports bra” took care of the chafing problem. And the neuroma pain didn’t surface, maybe because we had a pretty flat route. So that was a relief.

We had a nice group of people today. My mentee Beth is mentoring next season, and she brought one of her mentees out to do a few miles. Beth is fighting a knee injury. Nancy was out to walk 8 miles with my good buddy Kristi doing the coaching, and they were stepping along at a great pace when I saw them come in. Chuck was out to provide head coaching, and my former mentee and teammate Kathy, who mentored the spring team, also came out. It was great to see her and to hear the she is considering coming to Seattle to run with Chuck and me. Finally, Lelia and I, doing a run / walk combination, completed our group. A year ago, Chuck, Kristi and I were in Nashville together. How time flies! Lelia started our training with a great mission moment: a poem written by a 10 year old boy about how he wished he could cure cancer. We were all moved.

For a good chunk of training today, Chuck, Kathy, Lelia, and I were all together. With a few miles to go, Kathy and Chuck kept running when we switched to a walk mode and that was that. Lelia and I did about 8.5 miles at a reasonable run / walk pace of about 12 minute miles. Sorry – no photos. It was just too wet at times and threatening other times to risk my camera. But it was a fun workout together, and good to creep our mileage up. Lelia’s race is only six weeks away, and mine is nine weeks, so we have to start doing more miles soon. Eight today was a good start for this, and felt like enough at the same time.

Lelia was talking about the importance of consuming proteins after a hard workout. So when I went home, I made two eggs with broken yolks, cooked three pieces of bacon, and made a sandwich with those and some slices of cheddar on a bagel. Combined with a mug of tea, man oh man, did that hit the spot.