How the first group training run went -- CarenClark.com Message Board

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Date Posted: 15:22:25 05/06/02 Mon
Author: Caren
Subject: How the first group training run went

The first official group run was this weekend. It's an important run because it determines which pace group we join.

However, things got off to an inauspicious start. Got up at 6 a.m. Saturday morning and, while getting ready, pulled a muscle in my neck. It hurt. A lot. I iced it and heated it, downed a few Advil, and decided to run anyway, despite the fact that I couldn't quite turn my head to the left.

So I'm driving to the run site and decided at the last minute that I'd rather run at the Georgetown site than at the Mall. Georgetown was closer, I knew I wouldn't get lost trying to find it, and I wouldn't have to worry about parking.

When I got to the site, no one was there. And still no one had arrived by the time 8:00 (start time) rolled around. Using my brilliant powers of observation, I cleverly deduced that I had been a dumb ass and there was obviously no training run scheduled for Saturdays at Georgetown. Sure enough, turns out they only had a Sunday run. *sigh* Stuff like this surely happens to everyone, right?

So that was my Saturday.

On Sunday I tried again. Got up at 6. Went to Georgetown. Hello, people! :-)

The program staff were really friendly and enthusiastic. I was surprised to see such a mix of people. All ages, sizes, and experience levels.

Did a three-mile run. Nothing too eventful there. It's a pretty, if monotonous course. The C&O canal is on one side. Lots of ducks, but not much else to look at. Vegetation and the Potomac river are on the other side. The track is dirt and gravel. It's easy on the joints, but gets really muddy after it rains.

Anyway, the run was fine. I ended up with a 14-minute mile pace, which is average for me. However, during training I'll actually be running at a 15-minute mile pace.

The trick with the Marine Corps Marathon is that runners have to cross the 14th street bridge before it's reopened to traffic. In order to do that, you need to run a 14-minute mile pace or less. I'm kind of borderline right now, but should be fine 6 months from now. If not, I may end up running the Baltimore Marathon instead.

Next week we meet with our pace groups and do 4 miles.

~Caren

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