This week is the week...

Okay, so it's not really THE week.  It's actually the week leading up to THE week. (THE week eve)  It's kind of a no-man's land.   18 weeks from the Twin Cities Marathon is next Sunday and I have an  18-week plan, so what do I do with week 19.  I'm anxious to get started, but I'm a stickler for rules, so I must keep with the program.  I guess I'll just keep being a running vagabond for one more week.

Here are a few miscellaneous notes from the week:

I was kinda grumpy this morning and didn't feel much like running.  My MP3 player wasn't working and I was tired.  I skipped the tunes and headed out anyway.  I decided to keep it slow and ran along the railroad tracks for several miles.  I saw a little dirt path that veered off to the left and discovered a whole new set of trails and a campground in the middle of Eden Prairie.  I've lived in this area for over 10 years and it's always a cheap thrill to discover a new and unexplored trail.

I did my recovery run with my beautiful daughter this morning.  She is thinking about adding running to her long list of activities and I couldn 't be happier.  If she ever wanted to run competitively, I know she would be awesome.  Because of her gymnastics, she has a core strength that I can only dream about.  She has good running form and I told her that I could have her running sub-20 5 k's no problem by the fall.  The sky's the limit with this girl. 

I worked some extra hours at the running store this week-end.  Don't tell the management, but I would work there for free!  Our customers are mainly newbie and middle/back of the pack runners, the majority being female.  They aren't always the fastest, but they seem to have just the right balance of competiveness and joy of running.  It surprises me to see how much running means to some.  I've had several occasions where women have been tearing up when they talk about what running has done for them or how they were overwieght and are now fit.  It is certainly more than running fast; it's about pushing yourself beyond anything you may have thought possible at a certain point in you life.  I don't know if my schedule will allow, but I've been asked if I would like to head up the store's marathon clinic.  It's something I would love to do, but need to make sure that I can make the time.  I think it would be very fulfilling to help a group of people get to the finish line of their first marathon.

That's it for now. 

Happy Running!