My Crazy "Running" Family

I decided not to do the long run today. I haven't been sleeping this week and I didn't get home from work last night until a bit before 1. I would have had to get up at 5:30 to make the run. In addition, I was fighting the soreness in my right leg all day. With all that, Andy and Wendy convinced me that it would be stupid to show up for the run, especially with race day only 2 days away. I was able to sleep in a bit and get 8 hours of sleep. I woke up exhausted, but felt better during the day though then I have in quite a few days. The leg is feeling better today too. I think I will try head out tomorrow for 10 or so and see how it feels. Hopefully tomorrow is going to be slightly cooler then the 101 degrees we had today. It's supposed to start cooling down, but only by a couple degrees. I don't plan on getting up early either. So it could be interesting out there tomorrow.

My parents are funny. They've got the bug and they've got it bad. Every time I talk to them now they are talking about new personal best distances and times. It's like a talk with my running group. We talk about pacing, types of runs, recoveries, nutrition, ice baths and much more. My mom is mostly walking, but she sprinkles in some jogging here and there. She just set a personal best in distance by going 7 miles this past week. My dad is unofficially doing the Jeff Galloway method of running. He started out walking and sprinkled in some fartlek jogs. He's been doing some reading and is now following a training plan to do a half marathon this fall. The funny thing is that my dad doesn't read. He loves the book he is following and both of my parents are absorbing all the information in it like a sponge.

I think it's such a great think for both of them to get into this. They are much healthier now and experiencing all the benefits that running can give a person. By listening to some of my advice and following all the information they have gotten out of this book, they are being smart about their training. Even though they are both ridiculously hooked and want to do more and more they are sticking to the 10% rule. Given that they are both just getting started in the world of endurance and are both close to or over 60 slow and steady is definitely the way to go.

I didn't get my competitiveness from nowhere. I can see in both of them the desire to push themselves to beat the previous records and beat each other. My mom is a life long smoker and has always refused to give it up for anything. I'm very curious to see if all this activity along with her newly charged competitiveness will give her the desire to quit now. There are obviously so many things to gain in life by not smoking or giving it up if you currently smoke. It is such a limiting factor in your endurance as well. I can only imagine how much better she would feel if she stops. I will keep throwing hints and suggestions out there about this and see what comes of it.