Great Week Ahead!

Finally, warmer weather is here! In celebration, I broke out the 3/4 length tights for my Saturday morning run. Still needed the ear warmer and gloves, but it sure felt great to have the sunshine warming my face. Saturday's run was 10 miles which I happily ran at a comfortable 8:33 pace!! This is my target pace for Grandma's Marathon in order to finish in 3:45, qualifying time needed for Boston. It feels so heavenly to run without pain, aches or injury (just fluid on my knee), I hardly dare believe this is happening. What a joy, a pleasure, a treat, a surprise, a feeling sometimes takes for granted, to run pain-free! Hallelujah!!

I'll be heading to Michigan this weekend to run the Fifth Third River Bank Run, the largest 25K race in the U.S. My dad will be running the 10K, my sister, brother, brother-in-law, husband, and my 8 year old will all be running the 5K. My mom, sister-in-law, and daughter will be walking the 5K while pushing the little ones in strollers. I'll be doing the 25K with great hopes of a 2:08 finish time. Just 7 weeks till Grandma's!

This week will be a light week since I've been experiencing many of the signs and symptoms of over training! Tuesday will be 3 miles with my running partner!!! YES!! She's finally healing from an injury that has plagued her for the whole school year! Can't wait to have someone to run and chat with, looking forward to it. GO DINAH!! Wed. and Thurs. will just be 2-3 mile days. Thursday we'll sit in the car all day driving to Michigan, and Friday my dad and I will have a little "test run" together before heading to the expo.

My dad, my ultimate inspiration/hero/role-model, will be running the 10K this weekend. Last year he completed the 25K, but wasn't quite ready for it again this year or else we'd be doing it together. My son, who just turned 8, will be completing his second 5K. I'm so excited to have my son be inspired by the same man who has inspired me. I am passionate about running, it's second nature, it's a huge part of who I am. I'd love to have my children have that same passion, but as we all know, you can't push it onto someone. So, when my son asks me to run with him, I am overjoyed, I can see the passion in his eyes. :) I'm still working on my daughter, she's faster than any girl in her class (and most of the boys), so perhaps in time she too will take up running.