My New Run Club

I had a fantastic run tonight! I joined this women's running group through community education, not knowing what was in store. I was hoping for a push during my run; something challenging. I could have very easily been the slowest runner in the group but I decided that was ok because I was there to improve. And if that was the case then I would have a lot of women to look up to for help. I was going to start this group with the new running me (see the previous post).

I got there and discovered over 50 women! We divided into 3 groups: Novice, Wannabees and Gottabees. I quickly decided I was a Gottabee because I've raced before, I can run, I just want to run faster. I was more than a Wanabee. When we regrouped outside they laid out the plan for the night: Run 2 laps around the lake (aka small pond - about .6 around) and then regroup and do a timed 1 mile trial. Instantly I heard "Twice around!", "Are there going to be any hills??", "Can we just run around the track?" and I thought "PEOPLE!!! Are we here to become better runners or are we here to learn how to mount and dismount a moving sidewalk!?!" I knew why I was there and since I was armed with my new attitude I was ready to rock.

I ran the first two laps at about a 9:49/mile pace. That? Is fast for me. I haven't ever kept that up for any serious distance. I was trying to keep up with the pack but I was still towards the back and I kept thinking "But...but....but.......I can go far! Just not fast." Then it came to the timed mile and I ran it in 8:44! Holy smokes. That's 15 seconds faster than last year's TC 1Mile and I had already run close to 2 miles. I'm totally gonna get better this year! I'm happy. I'm excited.

When we were finished with that they gave us the option to walk back to the building or do one more lap. This is where I would love to say that I jumped to attention and did the extra lap. I did do the extra lap, but I didn't jump to it like my new attitude should have told me to do. I did it because I was talking to this lady and I wanted to keep talking and she wanted to do the lap. She is faster than me so her slower pace was still a bit faster for me and I finished the evening with 3.23 miles at 9:18 pace! Woah!

Our camp motto (because they call it a camp) is "A fit woman is a powerful woman". And the quote they used is "The day will come when I can no longer run. Today is NOT THAT DAY!"

TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY.