Taking Over

Last week I had to miss my run clinic as I had a previous obligation on Monday night.  I was really bummed to miss the talk about nutrition; however, I know so many friends in the nutrition field I can easily find the information from someone if I have questions.  We stepped up our run to 1 minute walking and 3 minutes running.  When I arrived on Wednesday, I was a bit nervous about being able to keep up with everyone, but was ready to get out and give it a go. 

We have broken our learn to run into two groups – the faster group and the slower group.  As much as I wish I were in the faster group, I have remained in the slower group as the faster group is quite fast.  On Wednesday out section was waiting around for our leader to come join us, but she got stuck elsewhere and we found out she wasn’t coming.  The faster group had already left for their run, so I mentioned to the group that I could track our intervals and found out what route we were doing.  So off we went!  I loved calling out the walk/run intervals and tossing in some of my motivational personality, not sure how everyone else found it, but the feedback was positive at the end of the run.

On Friday I headed over to the Running Room, as the learn to run group generally does Monday, Wednesday, Friday so that we don’t have to run back to back days.  When I arrived at the store there were 2 other girls and 1 more joined later – it was a small group of 4.  At 6:01 we realized that again we had no leader, so I once again offered to time the intervals and call them out.  This run was intense; we went a lot faster than on Wednesday for a total of about 3.2km.  It was fun, I did the intervals and another girl had an app on her phone for the distance.  At the last “run” interval I wasn’t sure if I would make it, but with our tight knit group we pushed each other to the end. 

I loved the chance to be the leader of the group and provide motivation to those around me.  Some of the other people in my group are faster than I am; however, I apparently enjoy the running the most.  The combination of the group was perfect for our jog on Friday and I really felt like I got a great workout.  I feel very privileged to have gotten to take the lead and have such positive feedback and gratitude from my group on both Wednesday and Friday. 

Added bonus?  The weather on Friday was amazing and it was beautiful to run next to the river and through a park.  There was lots going on and I could tell the city is ready to get out and enjoy the nice weather after a long winter!