First things first – a huge congrats is in order for my nephew Philip! He placed 2nd in his cross country championship! That’s 1.25 miles in 9:48 (7:50 average pace). Did I mention he just turned 8?!
He also smashed 30 seconds off his old PR from this season. Philip’s strategy is simple – start out slow and then pick the other runners off one by one. Pretty impressive for an 8 year old. It takes years to master the art of pacing.
Showing off the trophy
Philip’s cheering section
In other news, winter has arrived in Philly. Time to ‘get up and go’ in the morning and not stop to ponder about how cold it is outside and how warm your bed is. At least the sun comes up at a decent hour.
I ran 57 miles last week with 16 miles on trails. I’m still in quasi-ultra training mode – only because I enjoy it so much and not because I’m planning to run another ultra soon. If the spirit moves me I may even throw in some “fast” miles. I’m really enjoying just running right now. Plain, simple, and uncomplicated running.
Yay Phillip! He obviously takes after his Aunt Kristy! 🙂
That’s amazing! At that age running was SO hard. I remember our teacher had us running for five minutes on the black top in elementary school…torture! I got my little cousins to WALK for an hour (instead of their usual 15 minutes) last night. They whined, they complained but in the end they actually liked exercising! Did I mention they are 18 and 20 years old? Yeah, I got my work cut out. I love cold weather running! 🙂
What a speedy little kid! Good for him. And what a smart race strategy!
I miss the long mileage weeks. But now that we’re heading into winter and that bitter New England cold, it’s so much harder to motivate! Especially since I have to bundle up my little sidekick and PUSH her for all those miles.
Do some extra miles for me! : )
Yay, Phillip! 🙂
Congrats to your nephew! I used to love picking off other runners in Cross Country back in High School! He’s going to be a champ!
congrats to Phillip! I love seeing kids active in sports – especially running 🙂
thanks, aunt kristy! he loves how excited you and uncle matt get over his running. he also read all the beautiful comments from you kind folks and beamed. he’s a man of few words, but he did a little dance jig which means he’s happy! 😉
Your running plan sounds perfect to me! And your nephew…how cute! I love the trophy and I bet he does too. :^)
What a cutie! And very impressive time for an 8 year old — I could barely run around the block when I was that age!
A family full of runners. That’s just awesome. And how come your nephew is faster than me??? Seriously?
You’re amazing with your mileage… I’m peanuts compared to you. What trail did you run? Are you near Washington Crossing?
Congrats to your nephew – that’s awesome! I’m still hoping to even attempt to master that racing strategy sometime in the next 5 years…. Congrats on an awesome week and for enjoying running for running – it’s the best that way. If you do ever think of another ultra, you could consider running the Niagara 50K in 2014 with me…..
How cute is Philip? What a sweet picture! He looks so proud. 🙂
57 miles?!? Woof. You’re amazing.