On the last Saturday before St. Jude, we just wanted to take it easy. My sister Libby and her husband Brian (pictured) were kind enough to drive Anita Beth and I 10 miles up the Natchez Trace and drop us off. Libby drives really slow so the 10 miles was starting to seem like a really long way to run. When she finally dropped us off we were all alone with no way home but to run. If there's a more sure fire way to guarantee you run the miles I don't know it.
The Natchez Trace is a beautiful place to run. The Ross Barnett Reservoir was on the left side of the road and thick beautiful woods were on the right side. There is hardly a sign of civilization other than the occasional passing car. The traffic is not too bad. The only complaint is that the stretch we were on was uneven due to the long curves as the road winds around the reservoir.
AB's shins were bothering her the first three miles, but she warmed up and they were good the rest of way. By the time we were to mile six and seven I was having to tell her to slow it down. The worst thing that could happen now is to get hurt 7 days before the big run.
The only other event worthy of note was when some redneck in a pickup pulling a bass boat honked as he passed us from behind. We both jumped out of our skin. Anita Beth gave him a large non-obscene what-gives hand gesture as he drove away. I asked her to put her hands down as I didn't want the opportunity to converse with the dude. The girl's got spunk.
We finished without a hitch. It felt good to put in 10, especially knowing that this week will filled with relaxing easy runs as we rest up for St. Jude. I have a feeling we're both going to accomplish our goals on Saturday. I'm trying to run a sub 4:00 marathon. She's trying for a 2:10 half. The way she's running I know she can do it. We shall see!
