O Captain, My Captain

From now until the marathon, one weekend long run is followed by a shorter, "recovery" run. We ran twelve (12) miles last weekend and we will run fourteen (14) miles next weekend. Today, our training program had us running six (6) miles. (The "recovery" runs are always half the distance of the previous week's long run.)

Walt Whitman wrote one of the most favorite parts of Leaves of Grass about Abraham Lincoln. With the next U.S. President potentially coming from Illinois, today's run showed on a smaller scale how important leaders are. Our pace group leader, Dave, was out with the flu. Nonetheless, he showed up at the run site to support the group. And although we were not responsible for bringing the post-run food today (we have to re-fuel everyone after next week's 14-miler), Dave helped cut up and serve the fruit and bagels that all of the program participants enjoyed.

Dave was Kinnier's R.A. in his freshman year dorm at Northwestern. Not to get too sentimental, but he was a great R.A. and really helped Kinnier and some of his friends with their adjustments to life away from home. They kept in touch over the years and we were ecstatic when we unexpectedly saw him at the first training run. As it turned out, Dave and Kinnier ran at a similar pace, a slight bit faster than Jennifer. It worked out that we could really bond during the training if all three of us ran in the same pace group. When the members of the pace group had the assignment to select a pace group leader, no one volunteered. After some quiet moments of us just staring at each other, Dave took one for the team and volunteered. Since that first week, Dave has filled the post well. Running us at the "right" speed (in compliance with the assigned pace group), keeping the group together, and monitoring the group for fatigue and injuries, are not as easy as one might think. Most runners only have to worry about themselves, and watching a dozen or so others, who started out as strangers, can be difficult.

Kinnier figured that out firsthand today. Dave stayed back at the starting site in street clothes -- though not "plain clothes" as Dave looked quite fashionable. He asked Kinnier to take over as pace group leader. We did okay but we finished ahead of pace by almost a minute per mile, and faster is not necessarily a good thing. We ran the first half really fast, and despite the conscious attempt to run slower during the second half, we could not slow down enough. On the plus side, everyone seemed comfortable with the pace. There were even a few people who wanted to run a bit faster at times. The most awkward part of being pace group leader is having to tell people to slow down when the group spacing gets too large or when those people are running too fast. After the run, Kinnier got into a little trouble for getting ahead of pace. However, the group had made the mistake during a previous week by an even greater margin (when Dave was out of town on vacation) so it was not too bad. In the end, Kinnier is happy to cede the position back to Dave when he returns.

Dave, get better soon. We won't be mourning you as the poem mourns Lincoln's passing. However, when we succeed in our first marathon, we will recall some of Whitman's words:

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won[.]

Statistics:
Distance: 6.0 miles
Start Time: 7:12 a.m.
Time: 1:06:33
Temperature: 68 degrees
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Maximum HR: 155
Average HR: 140
Money Raised to Date: $2322
Days until Race: 100