Saturday I had a scheduled 9 mile pace run, which means running at race pace. For me, that means running 7:30 miles in order to hit my 3:15 Boston qualifying time. I wasn't sure I could maintain that kind of pace for nine miles, but that's exactly what I did. Except for the first mile, during which I was still warming up. I ended up with 10.7 total miles when my cool-down is added in. Run splits were: 8:03 /7:26 / 7:30 / 7:18 / 7:29 / 7:25 / 7:16 / 7:23 / 7:06 / 8:58 and 8:15 for the cool-down. Right where they need to be. I was very pleased considering how humid the morning was and how much time off I had taken from running hard.
Later on Saturday we had the privilege attending our neighbors' wedding and reception. The wedding ceremony was held at her parents' house in Avon. We rode on Lolly the Trolley to the house where we found a very large tent erected in the back yard. As she is from a musical family, some great live music awaited us including guitar, violin, piano, vocals, and harmonica. The ceremony, though not being what I would term "traditional", certainly had more meaning to it than any I've attended in a church. The reception was held down at Progressive Field at the Indians/Mariners game. While it rained a bit during the ceremony, the rain held off during the game. We were out in right field on the Party Deck. What a great view from out there! The table we chose to settle at had a view right down the first base line, just to the left of the foul ball pole. I expected to have foul balls landing around us but nothing came close till the end of the game. The Indians tied the game at three, sending it into extra innings. In the bottom of the eleventh, after Mrs. P asked if we really needed to stay till the fireworks, Luis Valbuena hit a walk-off solo home run to win the game for the tribe. We all saw it coming our way. I thought for sure that it was going land in the opponents bull-pen (where Bailey was lucky enough to get a ball from one of the Mariners' Pitchers) but it didn't. That ball kept curving around and hit just inside the railing, bouncing off the ground and maybe something else, grazing my arm, and sailing over the heads of the bride, groom, and family. Fortunately no one was hit and hurt. That ball came screaming in! I'm still a bit miffed at myself for not having the presence of mind to catch it. I was right there. I just wasn't expecting the ball to be there. I'd have taken it in the face had I been sitting down! Oh well. Better luck next time, right?
Sunday morning saw us just arriving home after watching an amazing fireworks display and waiting for traffic to clear enough for us to leave downtown. The Browns were playing the Lions just a few blocks away, you see. Getting home so late, I decided to sleep in and run later in the morning. So at 10:30 I hit the road for a 19 mile long run. I was slightly concerned running that long the day after running hard, but it worked out just fine. I completed my run in 2:43, averaging an 8:30 pace. I had no problems during the run, just a little sore after finishing. My run took me to the southern part of Medina where it gets a little hilly. They slowed me a little, but not too much, and made for a great work-out.
Even with some doubt lingering in the back of my mind, I think I'm where I need to be right now. I have two more long runs before the Erie Marathon, and then 5 weeks till Columbus. I refuse to put the pressure of qualifying for Boston on myself at this point, and look forward to having some fun runs. If it happens, it happens. Only time will tell.
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