Tom's Replacement

Wow! Have I mentioned how hard it can be to train for a marathon? I mean unless you are a natural born runner, which I am clearly not, training takes a good part of your year, and, as the miles pile up, starts to get tiresome to plan.

The "plan" was for me and my dad to run around 10 miles last Sunday. We were going to do a hard hill run but because of my dad's hamstring injury he wanted to do something a little less strenuous. (Did I tell you he has had to start going to a physical therapist? Both my dad AND mom now get treatment for their running injuries) We decided to run from mountain road again and end at Jensen's Park in Syracuse. That would give us just over 10 miles.

Well, as I am learning, plans don't always happen. Last week my dad was in Reno for a trade show and even had a great run while he was there. He was so excited to get back into running after taking it easy for his leg. But on Friday he got a bloody nose that just wouldn't quit. As he tells it, the hotel room looked like a murder scene. He ended up in the ER where the doctor shoved nose tampons up his nostril and told him to keep it there for 3 to 4 days. Poor guy had to finish the trade show with white cotton hanging out of his nose. He flew home on Saturday and obviously he wasn't going to be able to do the run on Sunday as planned.

I felt bad for him but I really needed to get a run in. I hadn't had a good run since our half marathon race. I hadn't really done anything and needed to force myself to get back out there. My mom, being the trooper that she is, offered to take his place. She needed to get a long run in herself and said she would do our planned route with me. I thought this was perfect because she runs just a little slower than me and my dad and I knew this would help me keep at a slower pace. Since it has been like 2 weeks since my last run I was going to force myself to do the distance but didn't want to kill myself doing it by keeping our normal pace.

I told my mom to meet me at Jensen's Park where I would leave my car and she could drive us to the start line. Sunday ended up being a little rainy and if you know my mom then you know my mom and the cold do not get along. Well you can imagine the conversation we were having just getting her out to Syracuse. Oh you can't? Well let me paint the picture. Now keep in mind that it was 57 degrees but it had been raining off and on. Not a downpour mind you, just a little drizzle. 1 hour before our start time she calls me and says she doesn't know if she can run because of the rain. I instantly get frustrated and tell her yes she can because it isn't even cold and I am sooo mentally prepared for this run it HAS to happen and I CAN'T do it alone. She goes on and on about how she will try but she will bring her hooded jacket and of course her phone. You know, just in case she has to call my dad to come ALL THE WAY TO SYRACUSE to rescue her. As she starts driving to meet me she keeps calling and saying how one minute it is a downpour and the next it is sunny. I tell her I don't care what it is, just get here. By the time she arrives at Jensen's Park she has talked me into ditching our planned route and says we are just going to run the trails around the park. That way, if it really starts raining we can hurry back to the car. The whole time I am wondering what the heck is wrong with running in the rain. Especially when it isn't even cold. But that's my mom. She just can't handle being cold and in her mind being wet equals cold. She forgets that once you start running you get warm.

She steps out of the car and she is wearing her long pants that have a warm lining in them. These pants are perfect for 20 degree weather but she insists on wearing them always. If it was 20 degrees she would have had thermal underwear on under them. She also has on a thick long-sleeved running shirt. She agrees to ditch her hooded jacket because, "hey, it's not raining down here." I showed her how I was wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt over a short-sleeved shirt so I could easily transition once I warmed up. (when will she and my dad learn?) She also says that instead of doing 10 miles we should just do 5. I don't work like that. I need to know the plan and I stick to the plan. It is hard for me to re-route my brain when I have mentally prepared for something. Anyways....I let her have her way because I just wanted to get going.

And guess what? At exactly 2 minutes 14 seconds she is telling me that she is warm and she should have had on a short-sleeved shirt. At mile 2 she took off her shirt and started running in just her sports bra. At mile 7 she stopped to roll up her pants. **sigh**

Oh ya, around mile 1 I had asked her how far she really wanted to go and she told me to just keep going. So I picked a route in my mind that I knew would be between 8 & 9 miles. We ended up at exactly 9.

It did rain on us for about 1 of those 9 miles and my mom said she actually enjoyed it and was glad it happened because now she knows she can run in the rain. **double sigh** She even kept running in her sports bra because even with the rain, SURPRISE, it was still warm.

It was a good run for me. The first few miles I was really stiff. I could tell it had been awhile since my last run. Amazing how quickly your body forgets. My mom doesn't do the run/walk ratio like me and my dad, so I didn't do it either.

I love you mom. You are always great for a good laugh!

**STATS**

Distance: 9 miles
Time: 1:32:41
Pace: 10:17/min/mile
Temperature: 57 degrees
Time of day: 1:00 p.m.

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