Ranniversary

A year ago today, I met Bob during my early morning run. You can read about it HERE.

Yesterday, to celebrate our Ranniversary, we ran together. He picked me up at 5:30 and we headed to the Capital Crescent Trail in Bethesda. It was a cool morning which meant it was perfect running weather.

I had confessed to Bob on the way to the trail about my bike wreck (HERE), and I asked him if we could run 3 out and 3 back just to see how I felt (we had 12 on deck) instead of running 6 out and being in too much pain to run back (TG suggested it actually). Bob said absolutely.

And Bob had confessed that he had been working on a warm-up plan and wanted to continue to do it. You see, since Bob isn't 33 like me (BTW, his birthday is coming up this week), he needs more time for his body to warm up appropriately. He also said that it takes his body about 3 miles to feel ready to run. This is VERY important. All of our bodies are different and it is appropriate to find what works for you.

Basically, we began or run with a 30 second run and a 30 second walk, increased it to a 1:1, stopped at the end of mile 1 to stretch and have a potty break. Then we ran 11 miles at a 3:1. We talked. We ran in cadence without even thinking about it. We talked more. It was nice. At mile 3, he asked how I was feeling. "Good", I said. No need to turn around yet. (Actually the only injury that hurt during the run was my bum... the jiggle in the beginning hurt it, but also numbed it)

We have a LOT of memories on this trail together. 99.9% of my long runs while training for MCM were with Bob. About 50% of those runs were on this trail. There were not many runners out that early yet, so we had the place to ourselves. I could not have asked for a better ranniversary celebration.

As we were approaching the end, Bob decided to push it in.... we were running fast... actually hit 6:35 pace for a few seconds before we stopped. Bob has gotten faster too.

It was a great run with a great friend. His life is changing in a month with retirement, moving away, training for Richmond.... I'm going to miss him. If any of you live in Lynchburg, VA and are looking for an AWESOME running partner/coach.... especially if you are into the Jeff Galloway method, Bob is your guy. He will be the one on the trail with a huge smile and the friendly conversation. Take care of him and know that you have been blessed to meet him. I certainly KNOW that I have been.

Bob and I during MCM - he ran with me for miles 11 - 23