Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Group Run Recap

So you know how we talked about motivation? And I was talking about group runs?

Well I did it! At least the once.

Last Tuesday I went to my first group run with my friend Samantha. It was a Pi-K. 3.14 miles. Pi, get it? I thought it was funny. And I thought at least I would be a good excuse to eat some pie afterwards. That's sound logic right?


When we first got there we kept to ourselves. Not because people were not welcoming but because we didn't want to intrude on anyone else’s conversation. I’m sure if we had walked up to people and introduced ourselves they would have been more than happy to talk to us.

The girl who ran the thing was really nice; she gave us tickets for free booze (hooray!) and explained how the whole thing worked. Basically, follow the signs, have fun, be safe, end up back here. Pretty simple.
We started with a lap around the parking lot and continued on through an office area (that includes my own office) along with some fancy pants apartments and some shops. And a movie theatre. Can’t forget the movie theatre.

Now despite the assurances of the guy at the shop that told me about this group, I was the slowest person in the group aside from the woman with a stroller and the lady walking with her dog. So I was really happy to have Samantha with me. She was willing to slow down a little bit for me so I could keep up with her. She also kept me from giving up. Around the 1 mile mark I was like “What the fudge man? It’s only been a mile?” I wanted to turn back but she made me keep going. I felt bad after a while because she clearly wanted to (and was able to) go a bit faster than me but I just couldn’t do it on this particular day.

Part of it was I felt a little out of control. We were just deciding as we went when to run and when to walk. Ok, run to that sign. Ok, let’s walk. Ok, now let’s run to that tree! Ok, now let’s walk again. When I’m going by landmarks, I tend to sprint to get it over with which is not good endurance wise. I was also having trouble catching my breath and I think my heart was beating a little bit fast. And my former blister sites started to get a little hot. But we made it back which is all that matters at this point. Even if we were second to last to finish. (Baby lady and Dog lady walked so they were technically last.)

When we got back, there were presents! Booze, a free t-shirt and a free Galloway book! Score! A local nutrition shop was also there giving out some protein shakes. Also awesome. It was a very festive atmosphere but we were both ready to go. Samantha had to head to her second job and I was ready to go home.

Will I do it again? Absolutely. But I’ll need some rules.

1. Do intervals. – I’ve been doing 1 minutes running: 4 minutes walking the past week which has turned out pretty well and has definitely helped with the endurance factor. It will also help me feel a little more in control.

2. Talk to people – I’m not very social by nature so it’s always a bit of a crazy impulse when I introduce myself to a stranger at an event. Hopefully, if I introduce myself in this group it will entice me to show up almost all the time. Having Samantha there really helps but having a backup buddy wouldn’t hurt.

So that’s something to look forward to occasionally. Maybe every other week? Or maybe every week. I don’t know yet. I’m winging it right now.

Expedition Everest is on Saturday. And it’s supposed to rain. So that’ll be fun, right? I keep checking the weather obsessively hoping the forecast has changed. Cross your fingers for me? 

Have you ever participated in a group run? Were you the last to finish (commiserate with me!)?

Expedition Everest 5k – 3 days | Happy Haunted 5k – 157 days | Wine and Dine Half Marathon – 192 days | Avengers Half Marathon – 200 days | Walt Disney World Half Marathon – 255 days | Disney Princess Half Marathon - 298 days 

Monday, April 21, 2014

Evil, Thy Name Is Bed!

I have been dealing with a motivation problem.

I feel awesome during the day, ready to run once I get home from work and then I get home. And I see: My Bed. My best friend/worst enemy. Giver of rest and taker of time.

Hello Pillows. Hello Blankets. Hello Mattress.


It's a problem.

But the thing about me is, I'm a problem solver. In theory.

So here are the solutions that I have come up with/am putting into practice.

1. Get up in the morning to run. - This eliminates my get home from work collapse into bed problem. But a new problem arises: my alarm goes off and I want to keep on sleeping. Which can then be fixed by solution number 2...

2. Get a running buddy. - AKA Shelila, one of my BFFs from elementary/middle school. She recently moved in with my other BFF Pattserella who lives down the street. Now that she lives close by, it's pretty easy to arrange to get up just a little bit earlier once or twice a week to go for a quick 30 minute run. We've already done it once, and I found it really helped. She kept me paced pretty well too which is great cause I tend to sprint straight out and then can't keep it up. But at some point, Shelila might want to sleep in so that brings me to solution number 3...

3. Join a running group. - I was a bit hesitant about this one. I was (and still am) concerned about my pace. I know I'm not very fast, in fact I'm pretty darn slow. I don't want to slow anyone down and I certainly don't want to be the slowest person there. So I went into one of the local running stores and talked to them abut what groups they had set up and if they were appropriate for beginners. The guy I talked to anticipated my concerns and guaranteed me I would not be the slowest one. He also said that he was a pacer for a Galloway group and that they practice that during some of the group runs which really helped me feel confident about wanting to try the group out. Plus, it's right by my work and starts 30 minutes after my shift ends so it must be fate, right?

So that is my plan. Get up early to run, both solo and with Shelila, and start going to a running group where I will hopefully make more running buddies!

Also, less than 2 weeks until Expedition Everest! I'm going to be running as a team with my sister-in-law (I'll be dressed as Anna and she'll be dressed as Elsa) and I'll be doing a recap for another blog so stay tuned!

How do you stay motivated?