Today being the "long run" day, I did not feel obliged to go to Chelsea Piers at the pre-crack-of-dawn. This was a very good thing not only for me (nice to "sleep in" until 5:30) but also for my seven year old, who's been a little teary about my not being around in the mornings. I ran seven miles in Central park at about 8:30 pace. This isn't long for me but I do my long runs on the weekend. On the bridle path I ran into FTE's own Mikael Hanson, who turned around and ran with me for about a mile, until I exited the park. Was great to catch up.
I ran a few errands on the way home. When I got in the front door, I called out, "Kieran, I got you a blueberry bagel and ginger snaps for your lunch." Whereupon Kieran came running at me from the living room, grabbed me around the waist, and said, "Best of all, you brought your own self." Did I just enter a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie?
But the headline of the day should go to Kieran's dad, Stuart. today marks the 23rd anniversary of his running streak. For 23 years, he's run at least 1.25 miles every single day. No days off--not for anything. Most of our runner friends are more critical than admiring of this streak, but Stuart started it for laudable reasons--at least I think so. Twenty-three years ago he was coaching his high school cross country team (ultimately, to be state champions in California) and he realized that his own running was vanishing. He decided that he needed to choose: was he in or out? He opted in and figured he'd need a somewhat radical commitment to make it stick. so he decided to run every day--at least one continuous mile. To make sure he got a full mile in, he soon made the requirement a mile and a quarter. And so he's kept that commitment for 23 years now. Of course there have been some streak-threatening scares and some hilarious streak-preserving runs resulting from this vow, but I'll save them for another post.
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