Bobolink with the family

Sometimes you have to mix it up.  A new trail, a new partner, new music (or lack thereof), new time of day, etc.

My marathon training plan has me doing easy “recovery runs” on Saturday in preparation for a long run on Sundays.  This is going to mess with my usual Saturday morning trail runs with the girls.  Tomorrow I’ll do my first 15-miler, and I wanted fresh legs.  Maybe in a few weeks when I’m more used to the distance I’ll pull in a trail run the day before a long Sunday run… but not this week.

Yesterday, while talking about my weekend running plan, I had a brilliant idea and asked Bill if he wanted to run an easy couple of miles with me.  “Sure,” he said, “but what about the kids?”

That’s easy.  Take them with us.  Bring the bikes and hit a flat trail.  Let them ride while we pull in an easy 10k.  Coffee afterwards.  When I proposed this, the kids were skeptical up until the coffee shop part.  “Can we get anything we want?” they asked.  My answer:  “Absolutely.  That’s the joy of getting up early and exercising.  Coffee afterwards.  Or hot chocolate.  Whatever you want.”

You probably already figured out where we went; Bobolink.  That simple little trail fits all the criteria.  We got the kids up at 6:30, loaded up their bikes, gave them each a banana, granola bar and bottle of water, and headed out.  The parking lot was almost full at 7:20 when we pulled in, but there was a space waiting for us.

B and I started off at an easy pace.  He’s been talking about running Bobolink as an introduction to a longer run (he typically runs 2-4 miles at a time) and the plan was for me to set the pace.  All he had to do was stick to me.

And so it went.  There were a few people out and everyone was full of smiles.  The temp was a cool 60 degrees and didn’t increase too much during the hour we were out.  I carried a water bottle and B brought along Clif Shot Bloks to munch when he needed a pick-me-up.

After about 3 miles a guy passed us, going the other way.  He was shirtless and wore a heart-rate monitor.  His pace was easy, though it was clear that he was running easy as a choice and not out of necessity.  B commented, “Wow.  You can tell that guy’s really fast and strong even though he’s not running fast right now.  I’d settle for being strong.”

Something about that comment irked me.  “You don’t have to settle for anything.  You just ARE.  Don’t try to put yourself in a box or trim off any corners to make yourself fit.  You are whatever you want to be.  Don’t settle.”

That’s what we get when we look at other people.  We compare ourselves to what we perceive the other person to be; whether or not it’s true is unimportant.

Connor cruised by just as we finished the run to the gate.  Sophie sat astride her bike eating her banana.  I paused the timer on my watch while I kissed my little girl all over her sweet face and B stretched for a minute.  Then I ceremoniously touched the gate, started the watch again, and headed into the bottom half of the inning.  We were in the second 5k of the run on a slight downhill with legs that were now fully awake (mine; Bill’s were getting a little tired), so we agreed to do a few pick-ups of 5 seconds each just to change up the tempo a bit.  I’ll admit to being a little coltish now and then; I get frisky in the morning air and like to express some inner joy at being alive in a beautiful place with people I love.  Call me crazy, but it works for me.

I bought two new pairs of shoes yesterday because my old ones have about 800 miles on them (I know, I know, don’t have a heart attack) and my left heel is absolutely bruised by the time I finish a run.  My new road shoes are Brooks, and they say “MoGo” on the side with a little circle around them.  I’m totally tickled by this and call them my Mo’ Go shoes… I’m going farther in them than I’ve ever gone before.  My other new shoes are trail runners, and I’m saving those beauts for later in the week when I hit a trail.

My feet felt great and there wasn’t any indication of a sore heel, so I picked up the pace a tad.  B seemed to be truckin’ right along; his breathing sounded good and he never faltered in his pace.  Once we reached the last mile I checked my watch for the pace; a solid 7:40/mile.  After a few more minutes I picked up the pace and dropped to a 7:00/mile, and told B to just stay with me and finish strong.  He did, we did, and the kids stood up and cheered when they saw us pull up.

We headed to Ozo afterwards and sat on the patio with our treats.  I sat in the shade of the umbrella with a huge, Cheshire Cat smile on my face as I watch my kids eat the whipped cream off their hot chocolates with their fingers.

My Saturday morning running group

My family finally joined me for a Saturday morning run.  They were part of MY world for three hours on a Saturday morning.  I shared a piece of my life with them and they had a great time.  It was a beautiful thing.