Race day draws near

In just a few more hours an unprecedented number of Perschau family members will join with 30,000 other walkers and runners in the Susan Komen Race for the Cure. Three of us will run the 5k, and three more will walk the distance. It is the first organized race or walk of any kind for everyone but me.

The walkers are Kay, Dawn and Jaden, who is 9. Their plan is to walk at least one mile, which I think they will consider to be too short. My guess is the crowd will carry them along and they'll go the distance.

Running with me are Angela, who just turned 13, and Justin. We are not "racing," per se. The goal is to run as much of the distance as possible and finish. Because of the weather the last few weeks, it's been tough for everyone to train leading up to this event. But luck is with us. Conditions are supposed to be near perfect with a temperature of  65 to start. That and the natural adrenalin that you get from a race should energize everyone. I see my job as managing the race for the two novices, who I know will be pumped up and rarin' to go. A good experience might mean more running for them in the future.

My plan is for the three of us to cross the finish line with our arms hooked together, which should make a good picture. When the walkers finish there will be another picture of all six of us.
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As for today's long run: I did 8 miles in 1:15:51, a 9:28 pace. It was a cool morning, I think the temp must have been around 68 or so, but it was pretty humid. The sweat was pouring off me at the end of the run. So, week two of my Dallas marathon training ended with 23.7 miles (the schedule called for 21). Not a hard week at all.