A Duck out of Water

I’ve been meaning to post this since my first training session for my 10k.  Yes, that’s right.  I’ve lost my ever lovin mind.

Anyhoodle, I trekked up to the training center in downtown Austin several weeks ago for the “kick-off” session at Rogue Training.  First off, I was nervous about what to wear.  I mean, these were serious runners with serious running clothes.  All I had were some comfy yoga pants and jacket that I wore – not to do yoga, of course – but for my post-partem body.  Hey, they fit and they were comfortable.  The only legit running item I sported that morning was my Mizuno running shoes.

So, I parked the car and headed inside.  It was like a sea of skinny people in tight running leggings, huffing and puffing, giving each other high fives after a 22-mile run (seriously?!?), contorting on the floor in weird stretching positions and generally looking all athletic.  Then there was me, clutching my keys, scanning the room for a sign that said “Newbies meet here.”  After about a minute of looking around, a really nice gal walked over and said, “Are you here for the Cap 10 training?”  Gee, did I stand out that badly?

In all fairness, they were a super nice crowd and very welcoming.  No one snorted and laughed out loud when I told them this was my first running experience.  Ever.  We had a great informational talk about running shoes (who knew #1 that they were so important and #2 that they came in so many options) and stretching.

Fast forward to my first official “run” and I was decked out in all the right clothes, knew exactly where to hang my keys and even learned some of those crazy stretches.  I may have brought up the rear in every “event” last Saturday, but I didn’t stop moving.  Walking more than running, but I did it.  And I felt very accomplished afterward.

Don’t get me wrong, there was a moment about 4 minutes into that 20 minute workout that I started to doubt if I was under the influence when I signed up for this gig.  And then I pictured Luke.  And the other four munchkins standing at the finish line with Scott…and I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.  Huffing all the way.

They give us a training schedule every week.  We just have to follow the plan and they assure us that we will, indeed, be ready come April 11.  Okay Rogue people, if you say so, I’m up for the challenge.  Stay tuned as I have a funny story to share in this week’s QOTW on Friday.