Running Down the Dream: Albani's Running Commentary

Albani is a wealth of knowledge on running for a 9-year-old! I've enjoyed some of her running-related comments over the years, and I wish I'd kept better track of them, but these are some of the most memorable.

"Does PR stand for 'perfect race'?" - seems contextually appropriate!

A friend who'd watched her asked me if I get up early to run before work, and when I confirmed that I did she told me that Albani had told her, "Mama goes running in the middle of the night." 5:00 a.m. and pitch dark does kind of seem like the middle of the night!

Her 2nd grade teacher emailed me and said congrats on my Bass Pro Marathon win. I asked Albani how Mrs. Esch knew that I won Bass Pro, and she said, "I told my whole class that we're rich because you won the Bass Pro Marathon." Oy!

When watching professional track on TV, "I'm not cheering for the Kenyans because a Kenyan beat Mama." That has happened more than once!

When watching the Olympic Trials women's marathon and seeing Amy Cragg and Shalane Flanagan run most of the race together in the lead, and then Shalane fade in the final few miles she said, "That's just like Jamie and Mama at Dallas. Mama died at the end like Shalane and Jamie won like Amy." This was also very accurate!

Someone she knew was working on completing a 5K and she told them, "That's a short race, it's only 3 miles." A great way to make friends I'm sure!

She ran a season best mile in training (not a personal best), and started saying that she "ran an SB" that day.

"Ewwwy, ewwwy, you're sweaty!" - after almost every one of my runs! This is also the truth.

"You're going to need to take some rest days until that heals" - when I had a blood blister on my toe.

"I'm resting to get stronger" - before races, referring to tapering!

"Maybe you should run easy today, like only 2 miles" - when I was deciding whether or not to run while sick.

She also knows how far (in miles) race distances such as 5K, 10K, 15K, half marathon, and full marathon are, and she also sure takes a lot of cute running-related photos!