Beat the Heat

I had a busy day today which consisted of work, feeding a friend’s cats as well as watering her plants while she is away on vacation, hair cut and then finally my 1^st run with running group – South Jersey Runners – which I found on meetup.com.  It was suggested to me that if I am going to train for a marathon, I should find a group to run with because as distances increase, it is helpful to have people with you for many reasons including support as well as safety.  So I joined a few groups on ‘meetup’ and went to my first group run this evening in Cinnaminson.  It was 3 other guys and me.  (I told my husband that if I was not home by a certain time that he best drive to Cinnaminson and alert the authorities.)  But no worries - none of that was needed as everyone I ran with was friendly and all about the running.  I ran with one person who is probably in his mid 40's or early 50’s and runs about a 10 minute mile like me.  He mentioned around mile 2 that he had already ran 6 miles in the morning and was feeling a little tired!  That was a little intimidating as the heat was already kicking me in the teeth!  But we ran the 4 miles and stayed together the entire time.  He told me that he used to weight 280 pounds and is now down to 160! I thought that was pretty cool.  Its amazing how running can make people feel comfortable enough to share personal stories, details, etc., even if they have absolutely nothing else in common.  I am running 6 miles with the group including Tom on Saturday. I hope I can keep up.   But if I can’t that’s ok too because this marathon and all of this training isn’t about keeping up with someone or about running a certain minute mile for me, its about doing something I never thought I could do no matter how long it takes!

Running Diary- 4 miles – minimal hills:
Stayed between a 9-10 minute mile pace the entire time. I felt overheated at times and could have used some water.  Is their a hydration belt in my future?
I didn’t wear my iPod and noticed many more thoughts going on in my head about the distance, the heat, and how much further till it was over.  Even though there was some negativity going on, I finished strong and ran the entire distance. I feel good and am ready for some dinner.