the marathon guy

Today has been a really great day!  I got up early to do a video shoot for something at church which took just over an hour to film.  It's for a sermon series on the Lord's Prayer so I had to say it over and over and over then try and really make it my own and think about the words I was saying.  (Let me just say here that praying out loud is not something that makes me super comfortable, let alone doing it in front of the whole church...)  Not only did they film me doing this, they filmed me about 5 inches from my face....in Hi-def.   They say it looks good...and it's not about how I look anyway, although if I look terrible, it could detract from the words...anyway, it doesn't matter.  I had fun doing it.  Even when they wanted a close up of just my eye. :)

In training terms, it has also been a really great day!  The forecasted sunny and 40deg was sort of right...it's sunny, windy (very!) and about 35deg.  Still a good day to run outside.  Earlier this week I mapped out a 6.2mi run on Google's handy pedometer and mentally prepared myself to make it the entire way.  I've run this route many times and the last mile has some challenging hills, mostly challenging b/c they are at the end of the run!  I didn't get a chance to get any mileage in on Thurs or Fri so my body was really ready to go this morning.  I am pleased to share that I did the 6.2mi in 60min.  That is just barely under 10min miles...which is right where I like to run.

The best part about the run was around mile 1.5 when I saw this guy coming up to pass me.  It turned out to be this guy that I have seen run for years around the lake with me...usually around Boston Marathon time.  He is totally a marathon runner by the looks of him!  Anyway, he turned around to make eye contact and said hello, indicating that he remembered me too (I usually smile and wave to most of the runners I see but this guy was always really nice).  So, he passed me and that was fine but it turns out he takes a slightly different route than I do and he came up behind me again, passed me with another hello then slowed himself down to a pace that was perfect for me.  This guy paced me for about a mile before stopping to chat with another fellow lake runner.  I wondered if he knew what he was doing and did it on purpose...I'm quite sure he did as he could probably hear me behind him (he doesn't listen to music or use any headphones when he runs).  

It was just kind of cool to have this guy 1. remember me 2. make a point to say hello, twice!, and 3. pace me (whether he knew he did it or not).  Thanks, Marathon-Guy!!!