Born Free

Assuming Mr. Garmin does not lie, I ran 13.12 miles this morning. Pace was 9:26/mile with a decent kick the last 3/4 mile. We did take some brief fuel and rest stops, but final time was 2:03:52. Total for the week: 27.1 miles.

The marathoners were planning to run 16 miles, but Coach Tilghman smartly reeled everyone in, despite the wonderful conditions (67 degrees and low dewpoint). It felt like early May or October this morning. The group broke off in twos, with some running 14, Jessica and I going 13.1 and another group finishing 12.

We started at Lipscomb University, worked our way through the neighborhood up to Belmont University, then headed down Music Row to the Roundabout, the Cumberland River downtown and up to the Metro Courthouse, That marked the 6.6 mile mark. Jessica, who is probably the fastest runner in our group, wasn't feeling great so we paired and ran back through downtown and meandered back to Lipscomb.

I started feeling the pounding around the 11.5 mark. Aerobically, I felt good enough to drop the pace the last 3/4 mile to just over 8:00/mile. It was a good run because I felt strong throughout and finished well. Adding 30% distance isn't supposed to be smart, but it was too nice outside and I felt too good not to take it up a notch. If I had to ballpark it, my pace was probably 85% capacity for the distance. The "break" from the humidity was wonderful.

So last night, crazy Pepper made a run for the border. At my Mom's for dinner, I asked everyone to be mindful not to leave a door cracked because our deaf dog will bolt and won't come back. Well, someone left the door open. Thankfully, the kids were outside. They saw a dog chasing a family on a walk down the street, and Will said, "Kathryn, that looks like our dog." Kathryn said, "It is our dog!" They chased him down and brought him back inside.

After I'd calmed down, as we were falling asleep, I started singing:

Born free! As free as the wind blows
As free as the grass grows
Born free to follow your heart

She got the joke. I thought you'd appreciate the tune with some pooch and feline imagery. "Born Free" is a great song (Andy Williams) and great movie (1966) I need to find for the kids.



Dori's been busy completing projects she's been talking about for years. Recently, she updated Will's room with new furniture and some feng shui. The past few days, she painted Kathryn's room a beautiful light blue and tidied it up. I see some bathroom overhauls soon, as well as some new furniture for the family room. Most importantly, I'll get to say "feng shui" again.