Training with Dad

So many people in my family decided to sign up for the St. Jude Half Marathon!

Me, my Dad, Justin, Rachel, Eric, Dad Payne (almost Michelle :)!  We would race on December 1st, but until then, we had to train for it.  So my dad and I came up with the arrangement that we would do our weekly run/walks on our own, but we would get together once on the weekend to do our LONG distance runs together.  

My dad's goal was to complete a half marathon now that he is 60.  What an amazing goal!  And an even bigger goal was to complete it in under 3 hours.  And to keep it low pressure, he decided to train by walking.  If anyone knows this man, you know he is SLOW going.  (I think I take a little after him :)  He gets in and out of the car slow.  He drives slow.  He walks slow.  He just takes his time and I love that about him.  But you should see him as he trained for the half marathon.  Those long legs, when put to work with a goal in mind, can go FAST!!!  I seriously had trouble keeping up walking beside him.  He trained between a 12 and 13 minute mile.  Sometimes we would even walk at an 11-something pace.  Amazing.  

Training with my dad was precious and brought back so many memories.  My dad was the one who got me into running.  I was that little 6 year old girl that wanted to run with her daddy, but complained the whole way.  I remember my dad saying, "Keep your eyes up".  He was so encouraging and patient with me until I found my love for running and stopped complaining so much.  It then became fun.  We ran 5K races together throughout elementary and middle school years.  Dad (and of course Mom!) supported me in track when I was in high school.  And when I came home from college, we would go on runs, but I would call them counseling sessions.  We had opportunities to have long, meaningful talks where I got much needed advice.  I hope to provide those kind of special moments with my kids one day.  And even while we trained in October and November, we were able to just find the time to talk, which always provides such encouragement to a daughter from her daddy.

Dad, I loved every minute of it!

Here are James and Reese playing in the huge "sand box" at ECS while my Dad and I walked lap after lap around the track.  This day, Mom was not able to watch the kids.  But usually during the LONG walks that lasted 2-3 hours, my mom would watch the kids and play hard with them and feed them.  Mom, thank you so much for giving me much needed time away from them!  Ha.  It's nice to know I can just leave them with you and know that they LOVE playing with their Meme!