Week 2: Running Four Miles is Fun!

Well, they say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Perhaps a marathon begins with getting proper shoes? With that in mind, I went to a running store and was fitted. They were quite helpful, despite my lack of knowledge on distance gear. They watched my gait and even they said, "Sprinter." Oops. Anyways, I am not equipped with some Brooks shoes that I will be breaking in and using next week.

Saturday marked the start of the second week of training with the LA Roadrunners. Because of a slightly tender and bruised knee and also not sleeping much the past week, both due partly to the festival at my parish, I decided to stay with Group 8 (a.k.a. GR8 Pace as it has been dubbed or for me, the Eighth Army). It was quite overcast; but, it is still nice to see the waves as you head off from the start. I quite quickly felt very comfortable at the pace (target 11:00 per mile) and my knee fears disappeared.

I just had a really nice, relaxing time running. The group leaders are so friendly and funny. Soon, some of the stresses in my life were at least temporarily relieved and I was cruising. The group only had to do a bit further than last week (4 miles vs. 3.77 actual); so, it did not seem daunting running to just south of the Santa Monica Pier.

Soon enough, it was back to the rally point and some stretching. I felt like I could have gone much further for the second week in a row, which was a good sign. The group ran a 11:05 pace which is a shade faster than last week and apparently works for the pace leaders.

Afterwards, I spoke with the pace leaders and asked some questions. They all said I definitely can be in the run-only groups (yeah!) and should give Group 7 and may be even Group 6 a try.

I felt so relaxed and at peace out there, as well as happy with progress since May. It turned out the four-mile run was the easiest part of the weekend, vs. the endurance contest that is the parish festival. I am hoping the running continues to yield that sense of calm and may be even happiness and achievement.

Meanwhile, I think I have my theme song. It will get some trials ... It will not be the old standby metal or hard rock. I guess may be it is kind of a good song for change and needing to change.