Sunday Fun Run With My Brother

This weekend we headed to PA for our annual family reunion. Earlier in the week, my brother and I emailed back in forth making a plan for our Sunday run. The plan was for me to meet him at his house this morning at 7:20 a.m. and he would drive us to Mill Creek Park where we would do an eight mile run. If you follow my blog, you know I ran the "worst course ever" 1/2 marathon (here) at this park back in March. You know the one with 19 mountains...errr...hills! On our drive to the park, my brother mentioned that he generally runs ten minute miles. I said that was perfect for me. I generally run between nine and a half and ten minute miles on my long run. We got to the park around 8:00 a.m. and stretched for a few minutes, asked someone to take our "before" picture and then headed out on the trail.

The first mile went by quickly. In fact it was evident in our split of 8:53. I mentioned to my brother that we were running that fast and he told me he felt like we were running ten minute miles. We continued on for the next two miles still coming in under 9:00 each time. As we started mile 4, we approached the hill. My brother tried to tell me that it levels out quickly but I knew all too well from the 1/2 marathon that it just keeps going. We successfully made it to the top (9:22 for mile 4) at which point my brother said how would you like to run that hill more than once. I reminded him that I had in fact run the same steep hills 19 times in the 1/2 marathon!! Our pace seemed to slow after the hill. Mile 5 was our slowest mile all day at 9:55. During the final 3 miles of the run, I realized my brother has some crazy breathing when he runs. It's loud, really loud! I had my ipod on and I could hear him loud and clear. I mentioned it to my brother and he said one of his buddies told him he sounds like Darth Vader when he runs. I have to agree with his buddy. I am pretty sure I was running with Darth Vader today!! This is also when my brother came up with the theory that we run faster when we run with other people. I do suppose sometimes that is the case. It definitely was today. We finished our 8 miles in 1:13:30 (9:11/mile). Not too bad for a Sunday morning "fun" run!

Here we are after 8 miles, still smiling...that has to be a good sign!!

My brother will be coming to Ohio on Friday night to stay with me. We will be running a 5K together on Saturday. I am sure, as always, there will be some sibling rivalry out on that course. My brother will be trying to keep his status as the "family champion". I will be attempting to steal said status. Only time will tell....

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!

Looking Ahead to the Mill Creek 1/2 Marathon Distance Classic

I am very excited to be participating in the Mill Creek 1/2 two weeks from tomorrow. Although, I think I am even more excited to be running it with a long time friend, running buddy, and "cuz". I was checking out the Cleveland Marathon's website last month and found a link to let you check registrations. I decided to put in Pittsburgh, PA since it is one of the bigger cities close to where I grew up. As I was scrolling down I saw a very familiar name..Michele. Of course Michele is a very common name. Now the Michele "Cuz" I know is 33 so I checked and sure enough the one registered is 33. I headed to facebook to see if any of my high school friends kept in touch with her (did I mention that we went to high school together and ran on the track and cross country teams?). As luck would have it, one of my friends was friends with her on myspace. I found Michele through myspace and sent her a message. I found out through her return message that she is in fact running the Cleveland Marathon. It is her first marathon (mine too) and she doesn't want to walk at all (me either) and ideally she would like to finish in 4 hours (me too)! So we had been emailing back and forth and I mentioned that I wanted to run the Mill Creek 1/2 but I really wanted someone to run it with. Without hesitation she said, "I'm free that weekend, I will run it with you". By the next morning we were both registered! Michele and I will both be getting into Youngstown early in the afternoon the day before the race. We plan to pick up our race packets, carb load (of course), and just catch up on say I don't know....the last 15 years or so. I honestly don't believe we have seen each other since she graduated from high school. I graduated in 1992 but would go back when I was free from college obligations and help coach/train the teams. It's funny how things work out, isn't it? Needless to say, I will be in Youngstown in two weeks, camera in hand, catching up with a great friend, runner, and "cuz" and of course enjoying 13.1!

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!