Friday Coffee and Chat

Friday, June 12, 2015 · Mike Davis

Good morning! What a week! I was out in Wichita Kansas all week, flying back yesterday just in time to get to my final Runners Alley 10K training group run. Of course flying back was an adventure with a late take off leading to a missed connection and then having to sit in the middle seat on a very warm and crowded air plane. All and all I was pleased to have gotten back no matter the obstacles and was grateful that my good friend Bob Fernald saved the day by picking us up at Logan. This is a busy month as I will be back in the air for another work trip that will take me to DC at the end of the month. Of course this weekend is my weekend duty at the base so recovering from yesterday’s long day won’t be so easy. All good though! As I said last night was our final Runners Alley 10K training group run and thanks to my partner (and daughter) the group had a great final training night with a scavenger hunt. Jennifer came up with a great list of different things to search for throughout Portsmouth and then led the two teams to the Portsmouth Brewery for drinks and appetizers. Everyone loved the scavenger hunt and then hung out for a good while at the Brewery. Tomorrow’s actual running of Market Square will be the final time with this group and it will definitely be bittersweet. I really enjoyed this group as they were all really nice and lots of fun to be around, but having Tuesday’s and Thursday’s back available is a good thing for me and NFLR. As I said this group has been great to work with and like just about all other groups they are super appreciative of all the help we have given them. This training time has been a challenge especially since I tore my MCL, but that ended up not being as challenging as it could have been. I am looking forward to seeing each of them on the course tomorrow as well as many others that we have worked with over the years. The Market Square 10K is such a fun race as the city of Portsmouth really gets into supporting it. This week while in Wichita I was able to get in a short run of about 40 minutes. Believe me with temperature readings of 102, getting in a run outside was quite an accomplishment for me. Of course the day I ran I didn’t hydrate as much as I should have but nevertheless I enjoyed a slow easy run in yet another state. Well that may have been my second run in Kansas as I believe I may have run in Kansas City a few years back, but Wichita felt like another completely different state. In fact Wichita reminded me much of Egypt because of the flatness and the heat. It is always fun to run in places I visit as it lets me see the area from a different prospective. Wichita seems to be mostly flat with lots of corn farms! Nothing exciting but I’m sure the locals would tell you that they like it just fine. Next week we are moving our Thursday’s “Pilates in the Park” to 6pm so that it might be easier for folks to make it after work. Hope that makes it easier for you! Well time to get off to work and get this day moving! Hope you have a great Friday and hope to see you tomorrow on the course! God Bless Mike