On Saturday morning (before the big quake's frightening adrenaline rush) my marathon training kicked off with the first Team in Training group run for those of us running summer races for the Alaska and Washington Chapters of the organization in the Anchorage area! After getting up a bit earlier than I might have wanted on a Saturday morning (especially the morning after my wedding anniversary) and fueling and caffeinating, I drove to the designated meeting point. Parking turned out to be more of an issue than I anticipated and I was starting to get worried I would miss the start and have to try to find my teammates out on the trail, but fortunately I eventually found a spot. As it turned out, I wasn't the only one having problems finding a place to park so the meeting started a few minutes late. Also the first session included some introductions and an overview of some protocols before we headed out on the run (or walk or run/walk).
We did a pretty short out and back of 40 minutes on the trails, which were in pretty good condition. According to my Garmin, I did 3.7 miles in 40:26 with splits of 10:47, 11:02, 11:12, and 7:25. I ended up running most of the time with a couple of other ladies on the team and chatting about typical running stuff (races done, dream races, our running histories, work, and school). After our run, we all reconvened over coffee and snacks (huzzah!) and had a more in-depth information session about our training and fundraising season. The coaches distributed our training schedules and went over some other training information with us and the mentors talked a bit about the organization and fundraising and shared some personal connections and stories.
We took a few pictures as a group and some of us (possibly mainly me) goofed around for a bit. Everyone was really nice, and I'm glad that this time around I should be able to take better advantage of the support, coaching, and camaraderie offered by TNT than I was able to when I ran the Columbus Marathon for them in 2009.
When I registered, I pledged to raise $2500 for LLS by marathon day (June 18). If you are interested in sponsoring me, just click here to get to my donation page. I have a widget over on the side of the blog that will take you directly there as well. I am incredibly grateful for all donations! I'm really looking forward to our next team run in a couple of days and to some of the clinics the organization puts on over the coming months. Have you ever run a race for charity? Do you prefer group or solo runs?
I love your running tights! I am glad you had a good first experience with this group. I am sure it will be great to have some company when training for your race. I trained for my first 2 marathons on my own and honestly kind of hated running by the end. I didn't feel that way when I started to run with a club as the long runs were fun since I spent them talking to people that I really enjoyed spending time with. I'll never train alone again!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you guys are ok after that earthquake. How terrifying!!!
It's crazy to me in a totally wonderful way how running together a lot bonds a friendship for me in ways that almost nothing else does.
DeleteThat is a spunky outfit you have on! Did you run in that hat?
ReplyDeleteI have raised money for a couple of runs: Susan Komen and Wounded Warriors. I hate asking for money from people, and it was not that fun, although in both cases I did raise the amount that I had pledged. I used to never run with a group, but now I do have roughly a half a dozen running friends that I regularly meet up with anywhere from 2 to 10 times a month, depending on the month. I prefer to run with just one or two other people rather than a dozen or whatever, although usually people spread out a bit once they get their pace going, so it usually works out fine.
Hahaha! No! One of the team mentors brought it and a bunch of other fun stuff in case we wanted to deck ourselves out like fools and take photos for fundraising purposes. :)
DeleteThe only time I've ever ended up running with more than a couple of people at a time for more than a warm up mile has been when I've run with pace groups during races.
I have family that live up in Alaska and they felt the earth quake more than they wanted to I think. I will be happy to never have to experience one. Glad you still got in a great run! and it is good to see you back into blogging again! or maybe you never left I just wasn't seeing you?
ReplyDeleteYou are making an amazing start to 2016! I'm excited to follow your marathon progress. I've been debating whether I will try to run at least one more, and I think if I do, I'll want to add a social component as motivation. Your cohort sounds great.
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