"Run-ning. Run-ning." One-Third of the Way...

Now the real marathon training begins.

I've completed 6 weeks of my 18-week program. This past week was a step-back week, so my long run was shortened. Instead of doing 13 miles on Saturday, I only had to do 9. I must admit, though, I was pretty sluggish both Friday and Saturday, even after the day off on Thursday. The run Friday morning felt pretty good and I came in exactly on a 9:09 pace for 6 miles. Saturday's run was a bit slower, as it should've been. The 9-miler felt pretty good. I did it out at Creve Coeur Lake and took my time. No pressure. Just a nice easy run. I opted to sleep in and get a very rare 8 hours of sleep. With high temps only hitting 71 degrees on a Saturday in mid-July in St. Louis, I figured, why not sleep in? There was no reason to get up early and beat the sun. So I encountered a lot more people enjoying the rare, cool St. Louis summer weather. It was cool to see so many people out getting some exercise.

I witnessed a pretty cool event as I made two laps around the trail: the Missouri Disabled Water Ski Association was holding a ski event. All kinds of physically disabled athletes were hitting the water along the shoreline. It was quite the inspiration. So many people who aren't disabled don't even bother getting into the water for various reasons, oftentimes fear. Here these folks were putting their fear and their disabilities aside, pushing their bodies to the limit. Simply awesome!

I finished my 9-miler, and the reality of the past week hit me. It was supposed to be a step-back week, but if you include those 4 miles I walked Tuesday evening, I racked up 42 miles in a 7-day period... no wonder my legs were sluggish this past weekend.

Still, with Week 7, I'm graduating to the big leagues. My Monday and Wednesday 3-milers increase to 4 miles. My Tuesday and Friday runs increase to 7 miles from 6, and my long run moves into uncharted water for me: 14 miles. I'm surpassing the half marathon distance and continuing a steady build for those dreaded 20-mile training runs. To kick off this big week, I was going to take my bike out for a ride, which I haven't done in over a year. Alas, plans didn't work out. Instead I was SuperDad, and for my cross-training, I took my two rugrats for a walk through the mall and some Mrs. Fields cookies.

Funny and pretty cool story from the weekend: I was getting dressed for my long run on Saturday and my daughter saw me get out my dri-fit shorts and shirt. She said, "Daddy's shirt... Daddy's shorts... Run-ning. Run-ning.". She persisted to bend her arms at her elbows and swing them from side to side saying, "Run-ning. Run-ning." Somehow over her 23 months of existence, she's picked up that I'm a runner. And she's already emulating that in her own quirky way. She doesn't understand its importance to me, but she associates running with her dad. And I just think that's awesome!