8 miles and I feel like me again

Sunday Greg, Casey and I went to Sharon Woods to do 8 miles.  It seems that none of us have been training very well for the half in October. Thankfully, a group run was scheduled.

Sharon Woods is by no means a walk in the park when it comes to running terrain. It has quite a few hills, some short some medium-long, and some steeper than others. There is a 2.5 mile paved loop through the woods and around a pond. It is very lovely and mostly shaded.

I didn't think I would actually run with Casey and Greg. I had prepared myself for maybe going the opposite direction from them on the loop and seeing them a few times that way, giving myself something to look forward to. But they were nice and took it easy with me. :)  It was sooooooo great. We chatted – mostly them, I was too busy breathing ;) – and the first loop went by incredibly quickly. We stopped for water and then continued on for a second loop. I would lose Greg and Casey on the hills, but they'd wait for me at the top. It was getting harder for me, but I was happily trudging along, finally feeling like me again! I was running a hilly course the same pace I had been running 3 or 4 miles flat. While it was hard to breathe, I felt incredibly great. It was a running happiness I haven't felt in many many months. I never thought about how much I suck; I just felt like I was working towards something and I was doing well. After the second loop, we ventured off to a side-shoot out-and-back trail that had a huge hill. Then we did the loop one final time in the opposite direction until 8.01mi showed up on my GPS.

I am so incredibly happy and feel pretty motivated and like there is hope to feel like a runner again. I know it's up to me to get my ass out there, but running with people is so much more enjoyable. My pace was pushed, my legs didn't hurt (really didn't, it wasn't even that I was distracted) and I felt so good!!! I know I wouldn't have made it around that path by myself more than once before I got discouraged to tears the way things have been going.

I think everyone benefitted from the group run somehow. And we decided to do a half marathon that is 2 weeks later than the original one we planned. We'll all be happier with more time to train – it's not like we haven't all done a half. It's not just covering the distance, it's doing well with the goals, otherwise what's the point.

I know my pace is slow. I really hope I can continue to run with them for the next weekends. It was fantastic company. The pace and performance improvement really makes me happy :)  Hopefully my legs will shape up. Still a mystery yet to be solved, but I sure was glad they didn't hurt Sunday. I hadn't ran or done anything since Tuesday, and they hurt bad that day. Meh, we'll see. I said I was starting over and this is a super-duper start!!