Was that Johnny Bench???

This morning was my last “long” run prior to the Long Beach Marathon in two weeks from Sunday. I was up very early because yes, since it is a Saturday meant we were back at the diamond all morning long. My daughter had another doubleheader and the second game of this doubleheader coincided with my son’s baseball game. This meant I had to (really I wanted to get up because I didn’t “have” to do anything!) get up very early; get to the gym and get the 20 mile run in. While I have been preparing for the marathon I wanted to get in more long runs compared to my last marathon in June. I faded at mile 21 but did hold on for a personal best time so I wanted to be better prepared.

For those of you who have never run a marathon it may seem like a daunting task running 26.2 miles (yes, every mile counts) but with the right preparation and mindset anything can be accomplished. My first marathon was my worst because I didn’t know what to expect and after that marathon I was very upset with myself knowing I could do better so I set a goal to do better. Well, I have run 5 marathons since that first one and my times have always been better than that first marathon. My last marathon nearly shaved an hour off my initial marathon time so I guess I have been doing something right. Now back to this morning and following my training regimen. The training regimen called for two runs of 20 miles just like it did when I ran in June; however; in June I only did one of those runs and riding the bicycle for an equivalent of the other 20 mile run. This time I made it my goal to run both 20 milers and this morning I accomplished this very well.

I felt great after running the 20 miles today and compared to two weeks ago when I ran 20 miles I had much more left in the “tank” today. I didn’t bother with the IPod as I didn’t want to hassle with the earphones and just let me mind relax for those 2 ½ hours as I covered the 20 mile distance. If I had more time I could have covered a few more miles but I had to get home in order to get everyone ready for the day on the diamond. I returned home and much to my surprise my daughter was awake, dressed and ready to go. This was a huge change for my daughter who relishes her “sleeping in” and even with the enticement of playing softball I thought she would still be in bed but that was not the case. My son was awake and coming down the stairs as I came home. His game wasn’t for a few more hours but we all were going to my daughter’s game first.

Since we had to take two cars I took my daughter in order to get her to the field in time. She is required to be at the field one hour prior to the game in order to warm-up properly. The game was slated to start at 9:00 am and this meant she got more sleep on a school day than today a Saturday!! This didn’t seem to bother my daughter this morning and she was almost human at this early hour. We arrived at the ball field and I watched as the team warmed-up with my wife and son on the way. They made a few stops for breakfast prior to arriving at the field but we were all there in time for the game to start.

My daughter’s team didn’t fare too well as they lost 4-0 and my daughter only got to bat once; walking and obviously not scoring any runs. She did make a great play at shortstop tagging a runner out as the throw from the catcher bounced in front of her but she had the wherewithal to go down on one knee, catch the ball and tag the runner out. It was a very cool play especially knowing my daughter only weighs 66 pounds and the runner was almost twice her size!! She was so proud and had a bright big smile on her face as she walked off the field.

The game was over and now it was on to my son’s game while my wife stayed behind to watch our daughter’s second game of the morning. My son has been gaining so much confidence since he started a month ago and it is wonderful. He is getting great at the catcher’s position and today he looked like Johnny Bench. The batter from the opposing swung and hit a little dribbler out in front of home plate. My son jumped up, threw off his mask, grabbed the ball with his bare hand and made a great throw to first base getting the runner out. This brought a big roar from the bench and the parents in attendance. I was so impressed I gave him two high fives. This was the play he has hoped for ever since he started catching and he was flawless.

My son was nearly flawless at bat as well; going 4 for 5 driving in 4 runs and scoring two runs. He hit the ball all five times and this was the first game he didn’t strike out. Also; I have been instructing him to stop throwing the bat after he hits the ball and today he didn’t throw the bat at all. He made a huge improvement today and if it hadn’t been for the smallest player on the team reaching base all five times my son would have gotten the game ball. Everyone on the team was rapping the ball all around the field and I think the final tally was 20-12. The league has a rule that when a team scores 6 runs the inning is over and today my son’s team scored the 6 runs in 3 different innings. It was a great game and now my son’s confidence is at an all time high. Wow; these are the Saturdays that I have longed for and being here means the world to me.