I finally made it out for another run with my local mother’s forum running club! Every time I go, I push harder than I normally would because they’re all faster runners than I am. Their casual, conversational pace is faster than my race pace, but they’re there to be social as well as run so they’re nice enough to slow down and I work hard to speed up! It’s awesome, because they’re really nice about running with me but also letting me drop back if I need a break. (I’d feel so bad if they stopped with me that I probably wouldn’t show up.) We do an out and back run so if I make it the first mile, I can slow down and then try to do the last mile with them.
It’s really fun to have a chance to run with some other moms, and this group is so positive, fun and supportive!
It was a really hot morning, and we did the first mile at faster than my 5k race pace. I felt really proud, but then I totally crashed after a hill and had to walk/run back. I tried to catch them at one point on the return, only to realize that I could see pretty far ahead of me and just because they were in sight did NOT mean I could catch up to them!
They were so nice that they waited for me at our start point to say goodbye and see if I was all right before they headed home. I’m doing a nice slow jog when I realize this and think “Drat, now I have to keep running, AHHH!!! Why are they waiting for me?!” So they helped me push myself even when they weren’t running with me!
I can’t wait until I can run the three miles the whole way with the group without having to stop and wait and catch them on the turn around. They’ll still be running slower so I can keep up with them, but it’d be nice to maintain that 9:30 or 9:40 pace and get to listen to them chat. I do not chat. My contribution to the running club is that for extra running motivation they get to pretend Darth Vader is chasing them.
Would I have run outside today if I weren’t meeting up with the running club? No.
Would I have run a 9:37 minute mile without stopping? No.
Would I have averaged a 10:33 pace for 3 miles including my walking breaks despite the 74% humidity that made it feel like 88 degrees out? DEFINITELY NOT.
Am I excited to push harder on my short runs so that I can do a better job keeping up with the other moms? Yes!
Win, win, win.
