29 Nov 2009

I got up at 6 this morning, ate some breakfast, donned my cold weather running gear (mostly consisting of some running pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt), and headed out the door. Naturally, I forgot my gloves. But it was warmer than I'd expected, so it wasn't too uncomfortable.
I arrived to find a group of about twelve people there, and I finally met (in person) my two running coaches, Vicki and Chuck, as well as my other teammates. Everyone is incredibly nice and friendly.
We started with some light stretches, a Mission Moment, in which Chuck told us how he came to be involved with Team In Training, and a warm-up lap around Boat Lake at Byrd Park, and we headed out for our run. I started out behind a couple of ladies, and found myself being included in their conversation, which continued for about the first mile or so. After that, I don't know if I sped up or they slowed down, but I ended up moving ahead of them, and talked to Vicki for a bit. When she stopped to wait for the next cluster of runners, I moved on, and was soon caught up by Chuck, the other coach. When he moved ahead to check in on the front-runners and those at the water stop, I encountered my first real difficulty. I was running on my own, which left me not much to think about but, well, my running. It's amazing how tired you can feel just by thinking about it.
But I persevered. I kept going, determined to finish my scheduled 5 miles (a Personal Record for me, although this was the third time I'd done it). On the way back to Byrd Park, I was really struggling. As I neared the water stop, Chuck came back and ran with me for a while. We chatted, and I started to feel much better. Second wind, distraction from being tired, or just enjoying the conversation; perhaps all three. But I felt better.
I ran the last mile or so with Gina, who is training for the Virginia Beach Shamrock Half-Marathon. She kept teasing me about making me run slower than I wanted to, in order to keep pace with her, but really, I probably would have stopped altogether if not for our conversation.
As is my goal whenever I run, now, I finished strong, with a smile on my face, ready to do more (I didn't, though).
We ended the run with some socializing, some stretching, and some tasty vittles provided by Nicki.
My conclusion: I really like group runs. Everyone is awesome, and I can't wait until next Saturday's.