Jan's fantasy #1

The big city marathon was one month away and the strict training regiment was followed to a 'T'. Jan ran five days a week. Four days a week she would run ten miles per day and Saturday she would run fifteen to twenty miles. There were two rest days built in for recovery.

Her husband's best friend, Pete, also signed up for the race as well as Jan's coworker, Rosa. Pete was an athletic guy and synced right into the training program five months back. The training started off with less miles and progressively increased in miles over time to build speed and endurance. Rosa was a highly competitive individual. She played sports in high school but focused on her studies while keeping in shape through college. While Pete and Jan were in their forties, Rosa was in her late twenties.

Jan and Rosa generally ran together unless there was a conflict in their schedule. Pete was the odd man out and ran on his own. However, they decided to combine their Saturday runs for the last month of training.

They agreed to meet a local metro park with a five mile loop. It had a good variety of trails through a forest, around a lake, and had some rolling hills with some steep elevation.

The mornings were brisk this time of year in the high 50 degree range but warmed up by mid-morning. The cooler temps were ideal for distance running once you got warmed up.