Monthly Archives: November 2011

When we first moved to D.C. in 2008, we were lucky enough to fall in with Pacers Silver Spring’s Fun Run group, which meets at the store at 7 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday for 5-milers throughout the city.

I’d previously resisted running with a group, but found that it was a great way to meet new people, and to challenge myself by running with people who were faster than me, forcing me to push the pace to keep up. It was great for slower days, too, in that “misery loves company” kind of way.

Post-ACL-tear, I never really got back in the group-run groove. Part of this stems from the discovery that I really benefit from a mid-day break in the form of physical exercise. But I suspect that deep down, it also has a lot to do with ego—seeing the people you used to run with whiz by you can be demoralizing, if you let it be.

Last night, inspired by a few other friends coming back from their own running hiatuses, I did my group run again. And you know what?  It was fine. I settled in with a group of four–some new running buddies, some old—and relaxed into a pace that ended up being about 9:30-minute miles. We did one of my favorite routes, and the miles flew by as I focused on little more than my own footfalls (it’s easier to focus on your own footfalls when someone else is minding the route). The experience reminded me of all the benefits of running in a group—the camaraderie born of shared pain and matching headlamps—and kind of made me forget about the downsides.

Do you run with a group? Why, or why not?

Now that the Marine Corps Marathon 10K is done, I’m fully committed to my next two goals: Training for the Hot Chocolate 15K on Dec. 3 and getting my body as strong as possible for the ski season.

With an eye toward the former goal, I spent some time yesterday making sure my registration ducks were in a row, reserving a parking spot per the annoying email from race organizers (I already paid for the race—how about letting me park for free?), and securing a spot in a seeded corral. As I scanned my race results from the past few years, deciding which one to send in for seeding purposes, I couldn’t help but wonder: When’s the last time I was actually happy with a race time (for running, that is)?

I spotted some races from summer 2010 that seemed fine-ish, like the Clifton Caboose 5K and the Capitol Hill Classic 10K. I had to look back to 2009 to find anything that really sat well with my ego.

But as I perused this year’s races, I spotted a huge victory that had nothing to do with time, or mental toughness, or anything—I’ve stayed healthy all year! This would be notable for any training cycle, but especially for this one, when my new ACL could have easily thrown everything else off, creating interesting new injuries as I screwed up my stride in a crazed grind to JUST KEEP RUNNING. Staying healthy through a comeback is a really tricky thing to do (so much so, I was asked to write a story for Women’s Running titled Tips to a successful running comeback for the January/February 2011 magazine), and I’ve apparently managed to do it.

I’m not fast. I don’t have a ton of endurance. But guess what? I can go run 5 miles whenever I want, because I have not given myself an overuse injury while recovering from a traumatic injury! It seems that at some point, I’ve actually procured some patience and maturity, which are way more useful than a PR.

Remind me about this post in December, K?