Let the Taper Begin and Marathon Chris Saves the Day!

I found out early in the week that I would not be participating in the Team in Training group run on Saturday. My son was scheduled to play in a tennis tournament. It's so important to be there for him (He won 3rd place - Yay!), I thought maybe there would be a way to make up that long run on Sunday.

I knew it was going to be tough. I also knew I would struggle through it if I were on my own. How was I ever going to get my 20 miler in?

On Monday, I told my friend Cheryl that I was not able to make to group run. She said that she wasn't either. Cheryl is running the half in San Francisco, so her mileage requirements are less than mine. I think she had ten on her schedule.

Over the course of some emails with Marathon Chris I discovered that she was running Miracle Miles 15k on Saturday but wanted to get her miles in for the weekend. At one point the Seminole Wekiva trail was brought up.

I was on to something!



From the meeting spot on Lake Mary Boulevard one direction is supposed to be an 11 mile out and back route. I asked Cheryl if she would be interested in going that distance. She said she would.

Chris was thinking 7 or 8 miles. I was thinking it would be close enough.

I had a plan in place! I met Cheryl at 6:00 AM or so. We hit the road at about 6:15 and we were back at the meeting spot at about 8:25 AM. My iPod says that 11 mile out and back was actually 12. I was a little later than I thought, but I found Chris patiently waiting for the second leg of the journey.

What a great run. We talked the entire time and kept a really nice pace. It was great to get to know her some more. It was really comfortable and I found the camaraderie amazingly helpful as I approached my 19th mile.

When we reached the cars, my iPod was reporting 22.73 miles total in 4:11:45. I never stopped my iPod so the time included a bathroom break at mile six, refilling my new fuel belt - that I love, by the way...

I'm a little sore right now and I'm a little tired, but it was an awesome, awesome run.

Look out San Francisco! Here I come!

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News to note:

The Orlando Sentinel published an article about my trip to San Francisco to race for Casey. Click Here to check it out!