Leader of the Pack

This morning was my first Saturday workout with my team and it was a blast! If anyone "out there" is interested in running a marathon, I highly recommend seeing if you have a chapter of Team In Training near you!

So here's how my morning went: First I woke up at 5:15 to nurse Grace. She went right back to sleep which is abnormal so let me tell you, it was very tempting to go back to bed! But instead I got dressed, ate some toast and peanut butter, and was out the door by 6:15. It was about a 30 minute drive to a park where we were meeting. I was the first one there so I was nervous that I was at the wrong place. But then some others came. We all gathered under this shelter, signed in, got our name tags, etc. Then we had a clinic on nutrition which was good for me because last time I trained I did not focus on my nutrition at all. About 20 minutes later we all went in the grass for more yoga stretching.

When it was time to head out for our 4 mile run, the coaches and some other people held up pace cards. We were supposed to get with the right pace group and run with them. I nervously went with the guy who held the 9-10 mile/minute sign. I mean, what if my ipod was way off and really I've been running a 10:30 pace? It was the biggest group so I figured I'd be ok and someone would be my pace. The girl I met and ran with on Wednesday had brought a friend and was running with her so I ended up running by myself in about the middle of the group. Let me also mention that I am not used to running without my ipod so the silence of running by myself was quite a different experience! I tried to keep a steady pace and found myself slowly passing other runners. By the halfway point, I had passed all but two people and caught up to the pace setters. After a quick drink of gatorade, I took off, this time with a girl named Tara and the pace setters. We all talked about our experiences running, mistakes made in past training, things that work, etc. The whole time I kept thinking, I can't believe I am keeping up with the pace setters. I felt good and strong and, I know it's corny, proud. It definetly has encouraged me to keep on training and I am really looking forward to Wednesday!

Now onto fundraising...part of the deal with Team in Training is that you agree to raise a certain amount of money for the Leukemia & Lumphoma Society. I have to raise $2400 to run in the Columbus Marathon. Today I started writing my support letters. So those of you who I have addresses for, be warned...they are coming!