I browsed cycling clubs, swimming clubs and finally running clubs. I found some good leads for all three but when I saw that the running clinic that I had wanted to join for a couple years was starting...gulp..on this very day, I knew I had to do it. I decided this by 8:30am just before leaving for work!
I knew I had made the right decision because all day I felt excited and well...hopeful. I was going to be joining a group of people who were all there to run and get better at running.
I called the store to ask a few qualifying questions. The gentleman on the phone asked about my running history and sounded like this learn to run program may be a little too basic for me. I assured him that I hadn't run for a while so he suggested that I take level four. Oh, there's different levels? This I had not known and it sounded good. Level four, he explained, is where runners work up to running an hour straight. This sounded perfect for me.
After work I came home at my usual time and had an hour to get the mail, make supper, eat, check the kid's chores and school agendas. We ate a modest supper of sandwiches and I had plenty of time to change and head out the door. That's when things started spiralling out of control.
First, I never bothered to write down the address and I was guilty of being too dependant on my GPS which failed me miserably. Apparently, The Running Factory doesn't exist in GPS-land. It searched and searched and searched but it couldn't find any Running Factory anywhere. I drove in the general direction I thought it was and I would have stopped to enter the address...if I had bothered to bring it!
Somehow, my memory guided me to the store's location (albeit not the most direct route) and I was faced with a new challenge. Parking. Cars were jammed into the tiny store lot and blocking each other in. Another person squeezed their car into the last possible space (the driveway) so I went around the block looking for somewhere to leave my car. I settled on the lot across the street that had a "For Sale/Lease" sign and hoped I wouldn't be towed by some irate business owner while I was out running around.
Just as I entered the store the people gathered there were heading outside. I found out that instead of being 10 minutes late, I was actually a full half hour late. I felt better when another girl came up beside me saying that she too thought it started at 6:30pm and not the 6:15pm listed on the website and materials. Sometimes I wonder that I can actually tell time, never mind read.
I literally dropped my stuff on the store floor and chased the group outside. Fortunately our group leader was holding up four fingers and I was able to count them so I made my way over. We exchanged a few pleasantries and then began to walk down Prado street. It seemed like we had only been walking 30 seconds before the word came back that it was time to run. I started to jog and asked one of the three instructors how long this first run was going to be.
"25 minutes" he said, "and there's only one run in this group."What? My mind tilted. I thought learn to run programs did a walk-jog combination until you gradually were running the whole time. That's what I signed up for. Groups 1-3 do this but not group 4. No, group 4 starts at a full 25 minute run and works up from there with solid runs week after week. I admit, I panicked. I've been lazy with my pace and I can't remember the last time I ran for 25 consecutive minutes. Maybe the triathlon a couple years ago? Oh, this was going to be bad.
I had no choice. I wasn't going to be the girl who thought she could do level four and had to be sent back to level three instead. Yup, it was pride. I thought about all the physical activity I do and decided that although the next 25 minutes was going to be uncomfortable, I was capable. There's a big difference between the two!
I wasn't the slowest but I was far behind the fastest. One of the group leaders settled into pace beside me and kept me company while I endured. Everything in me wanted to ask, "How much longer?" about twenty times and I wanted to walk very badly but I had to keep going.
I was so happy when that miserable 25 minutes was over! I would never have pushed myself to do that on my own. One of the group leaders took a look at me at the end of the run and commented that I was working too hard. Very observant! I felt like my head was going to blow up and I was gasping for air. I told him I wasn't expecting such a long run on the very first night but that I'm very active so I thought I could handle it. I'm always trying to do more than is "safe" or comfortable...something challenging. This definitely fit.
I don't know why running is so hard for me when there are many other activities I can do for hours on end but in this next nine weeks, I am going to push myself past the cozy, lackadaisical limits that I've settled into when it comes to this discipline. I definitely did that tonight. My stomach was churning precariously and my ears got real hot on the drive home. It was a wonderful feeling that I haven't experienced since training to teach BodyStep years ago. Limits expand as you push them and I haven't been pushing very hard to be honest.
Apparently they expect you to repeat this ritual twice during the week on your own. Hmmm...does anybody want to go for a run?
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