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Saturday, July 14, 2007

Group Run

I'll be honest with you homies, my Saturday long run with the group? Sucked.

I was doing 8.5 today, as were several other people, and others were planning on 12 (those that go further take another route). Well, as I mentioned last week, most of these people are fasty-fasties, and just like last week, the bulk of them shot off at the beginning and I was far behind with two other women. Now I know I'm a bit of a slow-poke, but this is where I'm at and I don't be-grudge myself that; plus, I know that my long run pace should be about 10:30-10:45 per mile and that's what I was doing.

At the first water station, there was a split in the road: those doing 8.5 were going right, and those doing 12 went left. The two I was with? Going back. Fuck.

I tried keeping close enough to a pair of fellow runners on my 8.5 route, but slowly I fell behind and after awhile, I lost sight of them. So I was alone. Without a Garmin or my mp3, running a path that I was unfamiliar with, I quickly became discouraged and, well, pissed off. If I wanted to run by myself, I'd do it at home. The whole reason I wanted to join a running group was to run with other people! Make sense? Yes?

On the way back, I got a little lost and am not entirely sure what my total distance was (at least the planned 8.5: could've been longer -- felt longer but that's probably because of my mental frustration), but I found our meeting spot; I signed myself as "back" (restrained myself from adding: "no thanks to any of you fuckers"); I got in the car without waiting for others and went home. Now that I've showered and am enjoying the coolness of the house, I'm not quite as mad. After all, it's not their fault they're fast. However, maybe this isn't the right group for me. I don't know.

I had a good run last week, so I can't totally discount the group, and just b/c I had one bad run with them doesn't necessarily mean that I will never return. I am out of town the next two weekends, and will have to run by myself then anyway, and when I return I'm inclined to return to the group and give it another chance. If I end up alone again, I may just need to shop around again for another, slower bunch of runners.

15 comments:

Erin said...

That's no fun. At least you did get your run in. I would give it another shot before you shop around.

miss petite america said...

yeah when i was training with a group, we divided into pave groups and the rule was no one got left behind...if just for safety reasons. plus the coach would spend some time running with the sub groups within the sub groups.

ws said...

that's terrible - how many people were there? even with only 20-30 runners up here I don't think anyone gets left behind...

enjoy the rest of your day...

Nikki said...

er...THAT MAJORLY BLOWS!!! I would've been right there with yeah ;)

ITA though, one more run before you trash the group :p

Glad you got your 8.5 in...you can track it really accurately on www.mapmyrun.com If they have MY neighborhoods in the north pole, they will have yours ;) You can get into the number of houses on a street too...or trees in a feild .

Anyways, just a suggestion so see how far you actually went ;)

Jess said...

Nikki: Thanks for the suggestion; I mapped it and it was 8.5. It just felt long since I was so hopping pissed.

L*I*S*A said...

If you're in the market for slower runners, I'm just the ticket. :)

Your speedy pace would leave ME in the dust!

Neese said...

girl i feel your pain this is the precise reason i left the running group i joined last year... despite the repeated "we all run together" i was always in the back and feeling hurt no matter how much i tried to not, it just sucked.

Wes said...

I know for a fact, that if any one person couldn't keep up, I would fall back and run with them. It's not always about how fast I run (or slow for that matter).

Marcy said...

That's sheety. Seriously. And precisely for all the reasons you stated. Um hi if I wanted to run by myself I would've!!! Not only that, but like MPA said, what about safety? That's poo especially since you didn't know you're way around. Sure some peeps are faster than others but what about common courtesy? No one drops back to make sure everyone is OK?!?

I think you have the right attitude though. One more shot before you peace on outta that mutha, Hopefully it will be better next time ;D

brunettechicagogal said...

Too bad there's not some more formal group where you live. The one I ran with in Chicago was huge, cost money and therefore was very structured. There were pace groups ranging from 7min/mile all the way up to 12, so nobody ran alone. Hang in there.

Mom tried decaf once said...

Do you have a branch of "fit usa" there? They have different pace groups. I would be so upset to be dusted like that!! Grrrr!!!

Great job getting it done!

Junie B said...

i was going to mention the 'fit' groups as well. we have several here in Houston and even though i am not part of them, i know several that are and love it.

you have different pace groups all with a leader. no one gets left behind.

ever.

having said that, give it another go, or maybe even 2 before quitting, er, i mean not being a part of the group... :O)

girl you DID it and thats all that should matter!!

teacherwoman said...

That run sounds like it royally sucked! I am sorry to hear that. Just when you thought group runs were going to be fantastic!

Sounds like you had yourself some good times on thursday night! Good for you!

Anonymous said...

Well at least you got your miles in. Hope next weeks run is better.

Mendy said...

Jess!!! I'd sooo run with you if I was in the same area. I consider myself a slow runner as well, and would love a running partner that was my pace. The 2 girls I ran with in training for the half, are much faster than me (they came in 14 min faster than me in the half), and I'm soooo apprehensive about training with them again due to me getting frustrated the way you explained. Plus, I don't want them to slow down because of me.

I got dropped on a run during training, and the couple that was running with me, I could tell felt they were slowing down too much. So, I told them to go on - "I know the way", when In fact I didn't. Luckily it was a runner's neighborhood, and I just guessed my way back. Sucks big time, and NOT good to hold any confidence...

Sounds like you may need to start wearing your pesky garmin, just to keep track of your mileage if that happens again.

I really understand where you are coming from!!! glad you got your 8.5 in anyway!