The Unexpected (Unsuspecting?) Partner!

Okay, this virtual running thing rules ... just before staring to write, I received an email from Virtual Running Partner Extraordinaire Mary Kate confirming our starting line phone call (ohhhh yeahhhh! ) AND (I love this) asking about who's wearing what color to see if we can coordinate!! Does she rock or what?! I'm the loser blowing that one, though, because Pit Crew #2 has her favorite shirt, I have my favorite, and, really, they don't go together at all. BUT, by the end of it, we'll all coordinate because we'll smell and be gross. Yet again, winning at the finish line!!!

To get there, I had one more training run today. I hate this training run. It feels ... useless? That's not really the right word. Annoying? Yeah, that's one. Here's the thing -- by this point in the schedule, I'm kinda tired. And, this run is short. And, I don't want to do it. I never do. Before my Half in the Spring, I blew this one off completely (and had my best Half ever, so go figure). I'm totally committed to the schedule except for this run. I got myself up this morning, and those three miles were just staring at me. It was an ugly stare. I soooo did not want to do them. They're not going to make or break Saturday's outing. Period. But, I felt like they might break me today.

On top of it, my human running parter had another commitment this morning, so I didn't even have that accountability. (Elly can sad-eyes me all she wants, but all I have to do is shower instead of put on my running clothes, and she just moves on with her lazy morning.) My legs were kind of tight, though, so I knew I needed at least a shake out run. And, who better to recruit ...

That's right: Pit Crew #3!!! He has very much enjoyed our outings in the past, but he hasn't been running this summer. This isn't really something to spring on a person, so I gave him a bit of a plea reminding him of how awesome it would be to come with me and a promise to only go two miles at whatever speed he chooses. It didn't take much convincing, but he still had to pour on the drama:


It's not that I was sorry he was with me, but it is very difficult to run while laughing. Just sayin'.

I barely remember the run itself because we were locked into conversation the entire time. (He is his mama's boy, and there's not much shuttin' up with him.) Currently, he's reading Shaquille O'Neal's autobiography, so we was educating me on Shaq's childhood telling me what surprised him about it, relating it -- or not -- to his own world, etc. My very favorite kind of literature is biographical, so I wanted to hear all he wanted to tell me. That worked great for both of us because, before we knew it, we were finished! But, not without a last nod to some drama. Oh, brother:

"That run was awful! I almost died!" he said.
"I hope my eyes don't roll straight out of my head," she replied.

I must note that the very first thing PC#3 said when we stopped running was, "That was fun!" He always says that ... running is a perfect platform to talk! How fabulous is that?!

For real. Good stuff!

That's that. The training miles are in the books! There's just one more Rest Day and a route to map between us and finish line cupcakes! Yeah, baby !!! We'll check in from tomorrow's Rest Day!