Day 39… My Little Buddy
Posted on July 15, 2011 by Margaret Schlachter
A few exciting things happened today. First, I already knew this was happening but as we all know life gets crazy and we forget the things that aren’t super important. Well, Mike who designs the Spartan Race courses was in town today. As I headed down to my PO Box, I saw this trailer in town. The Spartan Beast is getting closer.
Second was I run a pick up lacrosse afternoon every Thursday for all the kids in the area who I coach and the younger kids who want some time on the turf. Around lunch time I found out that a football camp was going on during the time we normally play. I did a quick change of plans and figured I could pull the kids workout into my own.
I have another busy weekend coming up, 10k Trail Run Race and a Disc Golf Tournament so I am switching around some of my running to get it all in. I was initially going to run four miles, well it turned into 8 miles. I think my change from lacrosse on the turf to a trail run scared away most of the girls. Only one showed up, Lexi. In truth she was pushed by her parents to come workout with me today.
Pine Hill Park, Rutland, VT
Distance: 8.07 Miles
Time: 2:15.16
Pace: 16’45″/mile
Pack Weight: 25lb or ~18% Body Weight
First thing Lexi said to me was, “I suck at running, you are going to kill me.” She said she was scared to run with me, until I handed her my backpack which weighed about 25lbs. She then relaxed a bit and I said we would go so we could talk the whole time, but we were going to keep moving. Then we set off into the woods. She is an amazing 16 year old, super talented alpine ski racer, and I give her huge props from showing up and doing something she didn’t think she could do. She ran with me for about an hour and twenty minutes. We went 4.64 miles. When I dropped her at the parking lot, when I told her the distance she was grinning from ear-to-ear!
I am super impressed she was able to keep herself going and accomplish something she didn’t think possible. It helped she didn’t know how long or how far we had gone until the end. At the end, she even said she wanted to come out and run with me again. She is my little buddy from now on when I am in Pine Hill Park. Maybe even a Spartan Chick in the making! I dropped her off and headed back into the woods to finish out the run. In the end I ran just over 8 miles and have to say feeling pretty good at the end of it all. It was really rewarding to watch Lexi’s excitement and it drove me to push harder the last 3.5 miles.