Tonight, I left a message for my friend Mark asking if YaYa could hang out with him and his son for a couple of hours while I completed my long run. As luck would have it, he was leaving at 10 am. Depending on the day, a 20-22 mile run could taking me 3 hours + (moving time). I asked I he could return YaYa home when he left and noted that I would not be too much longer.
It was a bit of time waiting for Mark’s response and then my phone rang. Mark explained that he was planning to go see the Jr. Pee Wee and Pee Wee teams’ playoff games and offered to take YaYa with him. The only caveat was that he was planning to hang out with his wife, Lisa’s family after the game. After my questioning, he assured me that it would be okay. His sister and brother in law were planning to watch YaYa in December when Mark and I run the marathon so this would allow them to get better acquainted with him. YaYa and his son would surely be happy because they could play together on the beach.
After hanging up, I began thinking about the possibilities that opened up because I no longer had time limitations. I decided to head to my favorite open space for a hilly but beautiful long run. The run would be more difficult as I have not run hills to this extent is quite some time. On the other hand, I had ALL DAY so nobody would care if it took all day. Besides, with Tom heavy on my mind, it seemed perfect to spend some quality time on the trails he and I loved running (together and apart).