Sunday, January 10, 2010

It was hard getting up early after the CPTC awards banquet Saturday night, but my husband Stuart had a long-run date with guys from that team and I wanted to put in a long run, too, so I was out the door by 8:30 a.m. I ran two laps of Central Park, staying on the dirt as much as possible. My average pace was about 8:40. I ran a total of 14 miles and got home at the exact minute that Stuart had to be out the door to meet his friends.

One of the many great things about living with someone who's equally committed to training and racing is that it makes for great tag-team cooperation. Stuart and I have a seven year old, so someone always has to be with him. Until Kieran was about four, we always ran together with Stuart pushing Kieran in our Baby Jogger. Stuart put in over 4,700 miles pushing the Baby Jogger in those four years. We had to get new tires twice because they went bald from use. Stuart is a terrific competitive runner. He's raced over 60 marathons (including his debut, at age 16, in a double marathon, which he won). His lifetime PR is 2:28:05. This spring he set American records for his age group (50-54) on the track for the 20K, 25K, and 30K (all in one run at Icahn Stadium). So we're birds of a feather who don't get to flock together just now because Kieran is too big to push. But in another few years, I'm sure we'll be running together again, once Kieran can stay home by himself--assuming Stuart is willing to slum it and run with me. In most races if we're both on, there's usually a minute between our per mile paces.