Wait, This Wasn't Supposed to be a Tempo Run

I had a fantastic run this morning. I got to run with my friend and she pushed me! We finished 8 miles in 1:13:39! That's a 9:12 per mile average. I'm sure she could have gone faster but she is so gracious and understanding. She makes running look so effortless and smooth with her long strides. She is a amazing. She's placed as her goal for the next year to win a large 5K in which she was the top female finisher and third overall 10 years ago. I'm sure she will do it!

While helping out in nursery Sunday morning, our pastor's wife posed this question to me: If you go to the Olympics and don't place where you expected, are you disappointed with that or just happy to make it to the Olympics? I think we were talking in reference to some of the track and field athletes who were heart-broken that they didn't win or place high enough for a medal.

I posed this to my friend this morning and she replied, "I was only 6 seconds away from qualifying for the Olympic trials in 1996." Wow!!

I'm gearing up for a 16 mile long run this weekend sometime. It is scheduled for Sunday but I'm running in the Blueberry Festival Stomp 15K race Monday morning. I ran it for the first time last year and it is a challenging course with plenty of rolling hills. The kind of neat thing is the last half mile or so is run against the Blueberry Festival parade that starts about a half-hour after the race starts. It gives you something to look at and a lot of crowd support but you have to watch out because you are running right along the side of the road with spectators about six rows deep. We were in the parade a couple of times and one time saw someone just about take out a runner.

They have a fun run for the kids so Kate and/or Emily are going to participate. Emily has gotten into the "running". It is in quotes because we usually run about a block or so and then spend the rest of the time walking or skipping. She's gone five miles since Friday. Kate hasn't really wanted to go. However, she's gotten back on her bike so that has her attention right now. We'll get in a couple of runs before the Stomp.