"4 More Sleeps"...

...until the Around The Bay Race!!
My 7th.
I'm excited but mostly nervous since I know that route inside and out. I even know where I will be at certain landmarks base on my pace plan and previous races. Silly eh?


I just had to shovel the driveway with wind, snow and what seems to be hard snow pellets. It's technically Spring, by calendar date but the snow we were showered with seemed neverending.
I liked shoveling. Weird? I like being outside, even if it means an upper body/core workout via my shovel and several cm of snow.


Oh ya..back to the Around the Bay Race...
I was reminded today about my little coach's view of what my race strategy should be.
We were in the car. Slip, sliding around the snow and ice covered roads. I said "jeez, I hope it isn't like this for the 30 km on Sunday!"
Jack (in 8 year old coach mode) said "mom, you have done this race so many times and you've done harder races than that. Just remember, when you get tired sit down and rest then get up and run some more and rest again when u need to, find a bench to sit on and then run some more until you get to the end. You know I'll be at the end for our usual high five!"

Our usual high five......what he doesn't know is that there is nothing ever "usual" about it


for me. Seeing him there, waiting to high five me is a mental picture I never forget. It means the world to me to have him there. I never take that for granted and cherish that picture.
Thankfully I have had wonderful friends to help him get to the finish line and this year it's my ex-father-in-law. He's a runner and we're very good friends. He isn't running the race but he always comes to cheer on the many many runner friends he has.

One day, when Jack was about 6 years old, I was doing a boot camp workout outside and I was hurtin'! I said "oh man! I can't do this stuff."
My little coach replied "mom, I've seen you run a 42km race. If you can do that, then you can certainly do this little workout!"

Wow! Words I've never forgotten. Words that I remember vividly as I train for this upcoming 50 km ultra in May.

He's a pretty good coach eh?
I'm a lucky mom!