Project 26.2: Somebody's watching

A cool thing happened the other day. I was running laps around our indoor track, working on finishing a six-miler, when I noticed a pair of little eyes were locked in on me. As I whipped around one of the tight turns, the eyes followed me and his head turned, his tiny mouth agape.

My four-month-old son was watching me run.

Kelly brought Hayden to the gym to walk laps with him strapped to her in his carrier -- he doesn't like being idle. She took a break to bounce on a large rubber ball with him, and he loved it, giggling like crazy. But when I ran by, he recognized me for that split second and watched me fly around the track.

That was a pretty neat experience. The moment lasted all of three seconds, but it served as a pretty big reality check. Whether I like it or not, he's watching everything I do and he's bound to try to copy me. In that case, I have even more motivation to keep running. I want my little guy growing up in a household where athletics are normal, where doing something like running a marathon is a way of life, not some unattainable dream.

I want Hayden to grow up knowing that he can accomplish anything he wants with the right attitude and the right work ethic. That's one of the main reasons I ran the Chicago marathon in October, even though his birth took a toll on my training. It was an exercise in determination, and something I could tell him about someday.

Along those same lines, I have decided to run the Tampa Marathon on Feb. 28. I have been running steadily and strong since Chicago and am actually in better shape now than I was then. I set a PR for that marathon and am confident I'll do so this time around as well.

I have mapped out an abbreviated marathon training plan. A crash course leading up to the big day. I have been doing weekly long runs up to this point, but I'll now up the anty, going for 14, 16, 18, 20-22, and 10 miles, respectively, on the five Sundays leading up to the marathon. There's speedwork, tempo runs, easy efforts, and plenty of cross-training, core workouts and lifting days.

I will be a four-time marathoner in less than six weeks.

Today was further proof that I'm feeling very strong on the run right now. I did a 5-miler, with 3 at a tempo pace of between 7:55-8:00 per mile. I finished with tempo splits of 7:57-7:54-7:58. As if that wasn't steady enough, I hit exactly 1,390 steps in each of the first two miles and 1,394 for the third.

Hayden wasn't there watching today. But I can't wait to show him my fourth medal down in Florida.

NYD 5K RESULTS: I finished the New Year's Day 5K in Chicago in 23:14 for an average of roughly 7:30 per mile. Among an estimated 600+ timed participants, I finished 43rd overall. I wanted to break 21, but the path was covered in snow and ice for a few long stretches and the wind chill was about 7 degrees F. My sister Melissa ran in the event as well -- one of her steps in becoming a future Ironman finisher.