1st group run!

Total Distance So Far: 21.75 miles

This morning was our first TNT group run. We met up at the Portland Running Company at 9am and first had a small clinic on proper footwear. It sounds like in total while training for this marathon I'm actually going to be running something like 750 miles (originally I thought the figure was going to be 250 miles, seems I was off by a factor of 3!). Holy cow. I'll probably need a new pair of shoes this summer, as a good pair of running shoes should only last you 400 miles. They said every runner wear's their shoes too long, but try not to, cause that's one way you can injure yourself. I'll try to keep that in mind!

During the clinic Val answered a question correctly (she named the movie a quote was from) and won a nice high-tech polyester running cap. She told me after the clinic that she really wasn't ever going to wear it, would I like it? SURE! I swapped out my bandana (that I had chosen this morning to hide my wild bed hair) for the cap pronto! I think it suits me. THANKS VAL!!!

After this we (the TNT runners) split up into 3 running groups: first time marathon runners, first time half-marathon runners, and experienced marathon runners. Each of these groups had a different distance to run today. After we grouped up, we headed out.

Our (first time marathon runners) 3 mile run this morning was going to be along the Willamette esplanade... however there was a cystic fibrosis walk also using the Willamette esplanade this morning at the same time, which meant the walkway was jammed pack full of people supporting a good cause wearing matching T-shirts and holding signs, walking dogs and pushing baby strollers, and this left very little room to try to run in. We started our first 1/2 mile or so walking with the group, desperately trying to go faster whenever possible. After a while we organized and formed a single file line, and the front man wove a snaking trek through the walkers as we attempted to make our first run "aerobic" in some way. It was actually quite a workout, as we ended up jumping up and down cement benches and walls, and dancing round stray children or curious dogs. Once we decided to form a line, the running was much more continuous. Even after the turn around point and then running headlong back into the oncoming walkers, they atleast had learned to clear a run-way for us by then as the TNT running group isn't a small group of people (50 or more?).

After the first half mile I remembered to turn on my Garmin (oops). I'm pretty sure the run was indeed 3 miles tho. The TNT coaches seemed to have measured it out exactly for us. I don't know how long the total outing took, but I suppose the data would be flawed since we were forced to walk a nontrivial amount of it. Anyway, from the data I DID collect, we (Val and I) averaged a 10:39 minute mile. Not bad!

Once done running, I was absolutely soaked with sweat, and felt pretty darned good about the run.

It's pretty neat to be running in a large group who are all wearing the same training jerseys. It makes you feel... I dunno... like you're really a part of something bigger than yourself. Then again, this may just be nostalgia for my marching band days. hehehehe.

P.S. Also this morning there was some ado around Val locking her car keys in her car by mistake. We managed to fix it without any real drama tho after the run. No worries.