Wednesday ...  "Hump Day" ...  Mid-week: In short, it was a good day! It was the day after the 6th grade play at the elementary school where I work and the students did an amazing job presenting Treasure Island. I oversaw all the hectic activity of backstage during the 1 and 1/4 hour show, plus costuming before hand and post-show. There are 23 students. Enough said! Classroom teachers, Music and Art teachers, volunteer Parent(s) and 3 paraeducators pulled together to see the students through the "Let's put on a show" process. Okay, so we didn't have to put the show on in a barn a la Garland & Rooney. Mettawee has a very nice multi-purpose room with a stage and sound-system (soon to be upgraded). But it is amazing to see what is accomplished in a 6-week period (tryouts to presentation!) The rest of the good day was made possible through a 4.5 mile walk after school (and after the May PTO meeting). It felt great to get out on the road after motioning, seconding, voting and such! I didn't really have a plan - other than pushing myself to change my clothes and put on my sneakers. I had not gone for a solo outing in a while (well, no short ones). I glimpsed my friend Patty in the parking lot, checking her technological watch, prior to heading off for her run. I came out to the same parking lot and headed in the opposite direction figuring we'd meet up eventually, and I would turn around at whatever point I met up with her. Well, guess what? After approximately 1.5 miles I realized she was not on the same loop as I was. I knew this because we had not passed one another and mathematically we should have met up by that point (you know those word problems - Train A left the station at such and such a time, traveling at a rate of blah. Train B left from the opposite station at such and such a time, traveling at a different rate.When will the trains pass one another???) Anyhow, I was feeling good. The walk was pleasant and not much traffic, so I just kept walking. At the end of the side road I made the decision to complete the loop by walking along the State highway. I simply wasn't in the mood for turning around and going back the way I had come. As I neared the school parking lot I glanced at my watch, ta da, just over an hour. Nice. 4 miles I figured, maybe a tad more. Well, on the way home I spotted Patty's car at our friend Lisa's (she's the music teacher) and I stopped by. I needed to ask Patty what the exact distance was of the loop I had just completed. 4.5 miles she said. Well, now that hour+ was looking very good indeed.
There are no medals for training walks. But there is great satisfaction in knowing that a training session has gone well and a good session like today's makes the reality of the upcoming race day a little less scary.