Planning and Preparation

I am a planner. Can't help it, it is the way that I am. The Great Race is coming up here in Pittsburgh. Bean and I have been doing the race since she was four years old. Last year we took Monkeyboy for the Steeler's race. He was enthralled with the thought of seeing some Steelers and with the thought of running through the tunnel and into Heinz Field for the finish. And seeing himself on the Jumbotron. We got to the race early, Mippy, Bean, Monkeyboy and I. We saw some Steelers, but they were Dwight White, Woodruff....from the 70's, no current Steelers. We must have asked Monkeyboy....oh, I don't know......fifty times if he had to go to the bathroom. He insisted he didn't. As soon as the gun went off, he had to go to the bathroom. We passed a hotel and Mippy went to take him in, but you had to have a key. Of course, they didn't, so Mippy stood off to the side, and as soon as someone came out, she dodged in. Getting back into the race, Monkeyboy lamented that "this is the worst day of my entire life". This said at six, almost seven, years of age. Somewhere on the course, he got a burst of energy and forged ahead, leaving Mippy in the dust, yelling for him to slow down. People all around Monkeyboy were watching him in amusement, running far ahead of his mother, who when pushed has an asthma attack. Well, the race ended and Monkeyboy has no desire to do another race. The Great Race is a lot of fun. Bean has bettered her time every year. Bird was going to do the race with her this year, because she is getting too fast for me. Bird isn't able to do it, so I decided on the track today that I will do my best to keep up with her, which will entail a lot of hard work between now and then. Planning and preparation. Of course, there is the chance that Bean will not want to do the race, so I'll check with her at Sunday dinner. Perhaps running will again become a passion for me....but then, perhaps not.