Well as evidenced by the sweet new Nike Free Run + 2 shoes in that picture, the running bug hit me again last week. It may or may not have been related to weighing myself for the first time in six weeks. Or the Vegas vacation Patrick and I booked for September.Anyhoo, the bug hit me again last week so I set about planning. And yes, planning takes a week -- a week during which I must devote all my time to psyching myself up (vs. running). As part of my training preparation, I googled running groups in Kansas City. Several popped up, but one looked especially appealing: Run Kansas City. Personalized training programs, group runs, beginners welcome? Sign me up! I was pumped.
Tonight was the free, try-us-out run to see if you want to commit the time and money. I put on my best running clothes (gotta look the part) and drove to Shawnee Mission East. When I got there, I met the coach, who proceeded to ask me how far I typically run. Typically? He assumes I typically run? Is this not for newbies? But I wanted to sound cool, so I replied "I usually do about a 5k." I was thinking that not only is this a respectable distance, but using runner's terminology scored me some extra street cred. Wrong. Coach Man then informed me that this was going to be a 6-mile run.
Insert record scratch here... Six. Miles.
What do I do at that point? I mean know I can't physically run six miles, but I can't leeeeave. So I do what any respectable person would do: I act like I'm going to run the entire thing, work my way to the back of the group around 1.5 miles and ditch 'em when they're not looking. In my defense, I was going to give it the old college try until they decided to run fast up a one-mile hill.
I am still going to give myself props though. I did, after all, drive 25 minutes over to the high school and run/walk three miles -- which is 1.5 miles more than my Hal Higdon training schedule calls for. Not a total loss!
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