Marathon Man - The problem is all inside my head.

Just got back from the 3rd group run.

The Team in Training participants meet twice a week as a group. On Wednesdays there's a workout time, followed by an 'educational' session of some sort.  The run on Wednesday was at McKinley park. McKinley is a popular park for runners and walkers, so it's already busy. Add 40 Team in Training folks and it's down right crowded. What was interesting to me was how much having all those people around threw me off. I couldn't find a pace that was comfortable.  I was surrounded by people who were faster (most were much faster) and people walking their dogs  and everything in between. Also, I'd asked one of the trainers for some tips. I was (and am) concerned that I was looping along with absolutely no idea of the right way to train. The trainer proceeded to point out all the ways that various passers-by were doing it wrong and suggested a few things to avoid. So, add self-conscious to my list of concerns.  All in all, a bad run. My take-a-way was that I needed to figure this out because the point of the whole exercise is to run a Marathon. In a large group. And there won't be a n00b division, so I'll be in a mix again. 

Today was better. We ran along the river (well, on the levee above the river). After Wednesday I'd decided to work on my own pacing and ignore my fellow runners. And it worked fine. I had a comfortable run. In fact I probably could have pushed it a bit more, which I'll try tomorrow. I think it would have been much harder to keep at it if I'd had two bad runs in a row. It's nice to have a success. I can tuck this away and whip it out next time I'm discouraged.

It was also 'gear up' week. Got some socks and a shirt at the last day of the REI sale and picked up shoes at Fleet Feet. The shoes were definitely not on sale. Oddly, (Alanis Morisette would say ironically) the $130 shoes were thought by staff to be better than the $100 shoes. Who'd a thunk it. I was happy to learn at the Friday Marathoners' lunch that a Timex Ironman watch was a good way to go and would only run me $35 or so. I just want you to know that I'm investing in this process too.

Again, if you're just joining us, this is all about me running the CowTown Marathon this October as a fund raiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Details can be found here.  You can make donations here.

Posted via email from Lee's posterous