« The PLAN | Main | 101 »

August 5, 2004

training around

This morning I hit the trail with W for an easy 4. It was quite a bit less humid than it’s been this week, which was nice. One of my former training groups was running a tempo out there. I gotta say it’s much more fun to be running easy and offering encouragement to them than to actually be tempo-ing. Especially this time of year, when it feels more like a swim workout than a run. In the winter it’s possible to have a tempo run where you feel like you’re floating; like you're running the way you were born to run. Not so much in August …

Even though I call the group a “former” training group of mine, I still feel like I’m part of the group. Austin has an unbelievable number of training groups – some free and others paid – and I’ve been trying to take advantage of all of them before committing to one group and settling down for the long haul to the marathon. I call it my “training around” phase. (When I was in college, as a female who actually enjoyed playing softball had some skills, my friends took to calling me a “softball slut” – I’d play with any team who asked. To some extent this training around phase is similar.) So far they’ve all been great, and I anticipate that even once marathon training begins in earnest I’ll continue to train around with the free groups, although not as frequently, since I like the variety, and it’ll give me an element of flexibility which I find necessary for getting through the long months of training.

Posted by jenandmats at August 5, 2004 8:23 AM

Comments

Hello! I'm Meghan, also a new blogger! You live in Austin? I live out in west Texas, about 7 hours away. But the same state, nevertheless. I live at Big Bend National Park, so if you ever want to come out for some trail running, look me up! Just wanted to stop by and say hello!

Posted by: Meghan at August 5, 2004 6:23 PM

Hi Meghan ... thanks for the note. I can't believe you actually live there! Unfortunately I've never been there; my husband doesn't love road trips (mostly because he'd get stuck driving.) But we'll make it out there one of these days. Let me know if you'll be in Austin! jts

Posted by: jenandmats at August 6, 2004 8:21 AM