Why did it not occur to me before that this would be the coolest thing ever?
I went out to TrySports last night for one of their group runs. I can tell you right now why I was always hesitant to do group runs before – performance anxiety.
I know that sounds weird. Especially as much as I’ve been running lately. But it’s one of those things where, I can run 10 miles alone but the second someone is watching, what if I need a walk break or something and then they don’t believe me when I say I really can do this normally? Heather and I even discussed this one day recently, that even if you’re comfy with someone, it’s a whole weird new thing to go run with them.
But then TrySports introduced their calorie burn holiday challenge, and that sounded like a fun way to finish up my marathon training and have something to look toward after that.
And last night was just awesome. A couple of my Twitter buddies, Corey and Devonda, came out to run. Kevin and Crystal and Ryan came out to get the literature for the challenge, although they’d already done their workouts for the day. And Claudette, a friend from Daily Mile, was there, as was Scott, a friend I met a couple of weeks ago at the Thunder Road preview run (he ran with me for 13-18 of my 20-miler that day.)
And it was so much fun. We ran 4 miles. It seemed like 4 minutes compared to my normal, solo runs. They had different pace groups, ranging from the very fast (I saw a flash of them on the way out), the middle group (my group), and I think there was a run/walk or a walk group too … The thing I liked about it, too, was that no one was left behind. Even within our groups the faster runners separated out a bit from the slower runners, but everyone had a running buddy or three during the run. At one point I forged ahead to introduce myself to our pace leader and she was booking it! I kept up with her, and then I looked back and saw everyone behind us. “Should we wait for them?” I asked.
She looked back. “No, as long as everyone is with someone it is just fine,” she answered. I’m glad to know they are looking out for people!
I had so much fun, in fact, that I will be back on Thursday. And I’ve already been talking to the peeps I ran with about running together at other times too. Come join us on Thursday if you’d like! (6:15 at TrySports. I’ll be running 3 miles.)
Comments
6 responses to “Running and socializing at the same time?”
That is really cool. I’ve always enjoyed running with you when you’re here because it is so much fun. Wish I could join you all. Distance + Injuries = FAIL 🙁
.-= Chris´s last blog ..Pen-flation =-.
That is really cool. I’ve always enjoyed running with you when you’re here because it is so much fun. Wish I could join you all. Distance + Injuries = FAIL 🙁
.-= Chris´s last blog ..Pen-flation =-.
Sounds like so much fun…so will you move to Greenville so I can have a running buddy??? Talk to Jeff and you guys make the move!!!
Sounds like so much fun…so will you move to Greenville so I can have a running buddy??? Talk to Jeff and you guys make the move!!!
I’m w/Jenny… come down here so you can do more Pub Runs w/us on Monday nights! 🙂 Those are fun social times. When I first started running with that group, I felt intimidated because I was so slow. But now some more people have joined the group of all sorts of paces and I don’t feel so stressed about trying to keep up with all the WAY fast people who come. Glad you’re enjoying the TrySports runs — wish I could come!
I’m w/Jenny… come down here so you can do more Pub Runs w/us on Monday nights! 🙂 Those are fun social times. When I first started running with that group, I felt intimidated because I was so slow. But now some more people have joined the group of all sorts of paces and I don’t feel so stressed about trying to keep up with all the WAY fast people who come. Glad you’re enjoying the TrySports runs — wish I could come!