Lessons Learned

This was supposed to be an easy running week with a couple of 5 K's and an 8 on the weekend, but with the Tely getting closer, I started questioning my training plan. Originally, there were 2 weeks between each long run which I thought would give my body time to adjust to all the extra strain it was undergoing, but I began to notice one week after a long run, I felt able to do another. 

As the weekend approached I mentioned to the girls that we didn't have a 15 K scheduled before the Tely and if we wanted to run that distance, we would have to move our 14 K up to this weekend. Even as I write this I'm trying to figure out what exactly has happened to me. How did I get from not wanting to run at all to adding an extra 15 kilometers to my schedule? 

We decided to run the T'railway from Coffee Matters in Paradise down to Biped on Water Street. If you take the trail right to the train station before heading to Biped, it's exactly 14 kilometers. Plus now that Biped has its own coffee bar right in the store, it's the perfect spot to finish a run. 

Before we set off, the girls surprised me with t-shirts they had made. It all started when the lovely Wendy Wall referred to us as "The Rice Krispie Group" one Saturday morning at Coffee Matters. Shortly after that, Batman gave us all nicknames.

And it's only gotten weirder as time goes on. Sugar is now referred to as Sugar Crisp and Molly has been dubbed Tony the Tiger. I'm trying to figure out who could be Toucan Sam and Count Chocula. At Maritime Race Weekend we'll all be Captain Crunch. I'm starting to think the next PRC group photo will look something like this:

But I digress.

There were five of us running this morning - Myself, Lori, Paula, Renee and Joyce. Things started out on a bad note when both Joyce and Renee realized that their iPod's were dead and they would have to run 14 K without music. At 5 K Renee had to drop out because she was feeling light headed. Then Paula ran out of water and by the time we reached Water Street she was feeling the effects of the heat and loss of fluids. Biped was an oasis in a 14 kilometer desert.

Within a few minutes of entering the store we were all eating yummy treats and drinking tea. They had all the necessities for runners - bananas, granola bars and my personal favorite, snowballs. Renee joined us for a snack and all the horrible parts of the run were forgotten. This was the longest, warmest run we've done to date and it was a good reminder of how things could be at the Tely. We have one long run left to get all the kinks out before July 24th. We've all learned a few lessons and I'm sure our 15 K next week will see a huge improvement.