Mothers on the run and other fun

the duck pond. So pretty - right?

So this morning I was up nice and early for the first day of the "Moms In Motion" program I signed up for. It was the perfect day and you couldn't have asked for a better morning. Clean blue skies, bright sun, a crispness in the air. Awesome.

The Moms In Motion train in my favorite park. I love this park because you can literally run for six miles through nicely paved and shaded paths until you hit the end (and there are a few other miles in other directions too!) This is my favorite training ground for halfs and the one full I ran.  It's actually my favorite training ground, period.

Of-course, the only issue is when someone says "we're meeting at the duck pond" that means different things to different people, since the park is so big there are at least 3 "duck ponds". Luckily, I double checked it right before leaving and the duck pond we were meeting at was the one furthest for me (which was always the "six mile turnaround" on my long runs. Whew. Glad I checked. Unfortunately for me, I checked a little late and I was cutting it close time wise. I was the last to arrive but I made it!

It's a great group of gals and I can tell already there are going to be some fun times ahead. I'm psyched about it.

Honestly, I knew this was more or less a beginner's group so I expected to go along for the ride and be taking it easy. HA!

First, Dana had us warm up. Huh? Warm up? What's this foreign concept? We stretched and jogged and well, that was good - I should be doing this. So that's cool.

Then she explained we'd be doing a series of other stuff - squats, jumping jacks, pushups and planks. UM. I thought this was running. Running I can do but pushups?  Oy vey.  However, truth be told, for the last million years I've said to myself - "self, you need to start strength training. Just do it." and then I reply. "I know. I will." and then the internal conversation comes to a grinding halt. This could be a good thing too, maybe it'll be my kickstart to strength training and that's something I do desperately need!

So now we were nice and warmed up and I thought we'd all be together as a group - I assumed wrong. We broke into two group walkers to runners and "already running." I was happy about this but at the same time, I was thinking this was going to be a "walk-to-run" kind of morning for me… but here I was really getting to work. I had a jacket on and didn't even have something to hold my phone. haha. foolish me.  So, I tied my jacket around my waist shoved the iPhone in my pocket and the 3 of us runners started out into the park for a 3 miler.

I'm so sorry - it was early and I hadn't had enough coffee - so I don't remember my mommy co-runners name - I will get them down next week - promise!  We started out a few feet apart and soon Mz. Speedy broke away. Well. I like a challenge. I had no idea how fast I was going because I forgot to charge my Garmin, so while I was sporting it, it wasn't telling me anything.  So I was just chasing after Mz. Speedy. by the end, she had a good .25 of a mile on me. The other runner was no slouch either -- I'm pretty sure my average pace is probably close to hers if I hadn't "raced" my three miles ;)

All in all Mz. Speedy made me do better than I thought I could - I also have to thanks my friend Jason who is running his first FULL IRONMAN today - I figured if he could swim for 2.4 miles, bike for 112 and run 26.2, I could haul ass on my run… My Nike says that the splits were: 9'51, 9'28, and 9'10 -- that makes me pretty happy. And I felt great after.

Running and gifts? Perfect! :)

At the end, Dana, our coach gave us all these great little goody bags! All kinds of beauty products, a granola bar from Trader Joes, a water bottle, etc. FUN!

I can't wait for next week!

XO
Jen

PS: I have to say that there is something incredible about running in the morning. May inspire me to get out there early and do it more often!