Runner at Large

My whole life, I have viewed runners with a sense of awe. Now I am one of those, and I am extremely proud to be considered a runner.

Monday, October 02, 2006

My Weekend in Miles...and Passing on the Love

It's not very often I run enough in a weekend to be able to judge it by how much I run...usually it's how much I should've run (I do much better on weekday mornings than weekends, for some reason).

Saturday morning was a 5K race. Lately, Ted and I have been playing chauffeur for Ted's younger brother, Dave. Dave is the one who "taught" me how to surf last June. Rather, he tried to...I thought it was much better to just sit on the board and look cute than actually try to do much. Anyway, so on one of the rides after picking him up from hockey practice, the subject of running and races came up, and by the time we were dropping him off, he had all but committed to running the 5K with us. Long story short, Saturday morning, there he was at the start, all pumped up, and less than half an hour later, there he is at the finish, yelling at Ted as he crossed "I am SO doing this again!"

As if the sense of self-accomplishment at finishing his first 5K (first road race) wasn't enough, Dave went on to clinch third in his age group, and spent all morning hugging his trophy and beaming.

This coming Saturday is another 5K...which Dave is now planning on doing. "This was the greatest thing," he said. "I feel like I've just done so much." I think I have returned the favor of him showing me how to surf...and unleashed a monster like myself in the process.

Sunday was scheduled for a long run. I originally wanted to get up Sunday morning and go, but we visited with friends Saturday night, and a Mexican dinner and three glasses of fruity sparking zifandel kept me in bed until half an hour before our Sunday School. The weather Sunday was beautiful, and Ted had a boatload of yardwork to do. I took this as my opportunity, and chalked the 7 mile run off my to-do list...and played the overachiever by seeing that 7-miler and raising it a half mile.

I'll let you know how the 5K goes this Saturday, and how Dave lives up to his inaugural race.

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