Sunday, March 27, 2011

That's What Friends are For

I think I mentioned before that my motivation, or excitement for running has been lacking for the last week or so. Last week I had a full 16k planned, my longest run to date, and I was having a mental block getting out the door. Cue the friends....

I was fortunate enough to plan my run with my friend Britt, who is training for a 1/2 Mary. She was not up to doing the full 16 with me, so we agreed to do 11 together. I figured out to do 5k on my own and head home with enough time for a drink and a bathroom break before Britt pulled up in my driveway. Bless her for making the 20 minute drive out to my house on a Sunday morning.

Side note: Britt is much younger than I am, sans kiddos and typically spends her Sunday mornings in dreamland...so this was a very special morning indeed!

Sometimes running with someone for the first time is much like a first date. What do I wear? What if I talk too much? What if there are awkward silences? What if I go too fast...or too slow? Turns out I didn't have to worry about any of it.

She brought along her ipod, insisting that she couldn't run without it. Let me tell you, she didn't use it once. We talked the whole run. We kept great pace and really enjoyed the run. We even made plans to do it again, soon.

This little break in my training routine has given me new (running) life! This weekend was another 16k planned. Although I wasn't exactly eager to hit the pavement, I knew I could do the distance. And boy...could I do the distance. I enjoyed myself so much that I went the extra km and ended up with 17k.

Okay, that wasn't exactly what happened. I didn't map out my run before I left the house and I was trying to calculate the distance on the go. I was worried that I wasn't quite going to make 16...and if I came home and mapmyrun.com said I only did 15.5k...I would be pissed! So I put the extra little effort in!

Effort counts!
How was you're weekend? Did you go the extra mile (or kilometer)?

P.S. I just wanted to say that I was very pleased with the attention that my last post got. If you haven't seen it yet, check out comment #5. I'm one happy girl!!!

2 comments:

Kittee said...

Way to Go Cat... Impressive!!!

I love my running bud.. Those long miles would be so hard and lonely... We talk the whole time also, and solve all lifes problems. haha

Yes I am still with Kelly. My training has been tough because I have been battling Plantar Facsiitis so I have been stuck with easy runs. :( and cross training. I am happy that I can still train though..

Looks like you are doing awesome with her help!

Anonymous said...

Oh awesome!!! I'd be willing to send you one, just let me know if you would like to use me as the 'middle man' :)

Great job on the run, you rocked it!! I always find that running with a good buddy helps a run go by so quickly! There's an added bonus there for sure :)