Group therapy

Just to give it a whirl, I tried the group thing today, the Running Room's free Sunday clinic, one that Frankie subscribes to. The runners grouped themselves as distances were called out. Marathoners over in that corner, 5K over there, 10K there, and walkers. Higdon's schedule called for 6 miles today (10K). Should I have gone with that group? Frankie said, no no, come to the marathoners group because that's what we are. Oh, okay. This is before the maps were handed out. And it showed a 15.68K (9.7 miles) trot through downtown, nice trails, a cemetery in midtown, more nice wooded trails, and back downtown. Last Saturday's Long Run of 12.03K was the furthest I had ever run.


Did I really sign up for this?
Yes.
I was able to keep up with the group -- about 15 runners -- for the first 3.5K. Then I lost them at a stoplight. I was pretty certain I'd lose them at some point, and I glad to have brought my iPod buddy for this reason. But luckily for me, there were two others, T & C, behind me. And we formed our own group. I'm not entirely sure if they could've run faster, but they stuck with me, and I'm grateful. And I'd like to think that they wanted to run with me, and not just because I held the map. But we were a good trio. They had watches (I do not know why I don't have one. It's kind of ridiculous, isn't it), and C kept us apprised of when our next one-minute walking break (We were using the run 10 minutes, walk one minute method). All I could think in the latter part of the run was "Here I am, running for my next minute", which, as C and I discussed, wasn't a bad way to think about it. Concentrate on finishing 10 minutes and it's not so daunting. Until you look from midtown and see landmarks of where you started and need to return to...

This wasn't a great run. I felt tired at many points, and the uphills were, well, an uphill battle. I fell behind my mini-group at times too, unsure if I'd ever be able to close the gap again. But I did.

At 3K from the finish, I started to contemplate stopping and leaving the group. And only because the route passed my condo. Which is funny because Frankie thought I'd stop at my condo too. He's glad I proved him wrong though. By this point as I neared my condo, it was just me and C, and if I was by myself, I very well might have quit.

Reached finish. Exchanged high-5s with C. Total time: 2hours, 6minutes. Collapsed outside store to s-t-r-e-t-c-h. Met another woman who was headed to Chicago. Then Frankie and I went for a little breakfast. I had toast. Lots of it. Toast is the perfect food.

But this has been a good start to Sunday. I think I'll stick to the Sunday group, at the very least (they also meet on Wednesdays to do tempo runs and hill training). I need the company to get through the Long Runs. This is not a solitary goal.