Low 60sF, sunny day. Easy inaugural run with Mt. Si Running Club. Slow, slow, so slow.
I drove a couple of miles down to the fire station, where the MSRC was to meet for the first time. I came early and ran about 1.5 miles by myself on the flat valley floor to warm up, not knowing what the morning may bring. My goal for today was to meet some other runners, learn about the club
and not do anything that would jeopardize my 20 miler tomorrow (hence
the drive down the monster hill). About a dozen people showed up, and Sean Sundwall talked with us about what we would be doing and where/when we would meet in the future. Each person introduced themselves and said what he/she was training for and what was his/her easy pace. We had a handful of "9:30s" and "10:00s," some much faster, and then there was me at 10:30-11:00 and another woman at 13:00. So I said I'd run with the 13:00 pace woman. What else could I do? I could probably keep up with a 10:00 group, but I wanted an easy run today and the morning was starting to get warm. I didn't want Ms. 13:00 to have no one; that could so easily be me. :)
I expected I'd be one of the slower runners of the group. No surprise there. But I did have the pleasure of knowing how comparably fit I was when Sean asked whether anyone was planning to do a long run today, "like 20 miles," and everyone laughed. I felt proud inside that I was capable of that distance and in fact was planning to run it the next day. Two other runners (from the 9:30-10:00 camp) ended up joining our slow group. I still don't know why they did, but I enjoyed everyone in our group. Our pace was occasionally 13:00, but most of the time it was much slower. You should always be careful what you wish for. Yes, I wanted to run easy, but after a mile I yearned to go just a bit faster. It's hard running much slower than you are used to. I tried to keep my form nice and "collected," as my horseback riding daughter would say. In fact, I thought a lot about what a horse looks like when it is kept at a very slow trot. Graceful and easy but not sloppy. Good practice I think. We ran on some lonely back roads (gorgeous wooded area near pond) which I would never run by myself for safety reasons. So having a group was a nice benefit in that way. We crossed over the Snoqualmie River twice. Then we circled back into town, made a much needed bathroom stop, and came back up to the fire station. All in all, I enjoyed the experience very much. It will be interesting to see how the club evolves. I hope we can attract more members. Sean is hoping to have many more, so that every pace and desired distance will have more than one or two runners. One person missing from the club this morning was Jefferey, who is running the Newport Marathon as I write. Or done by now? Hope it's going well for you Jeff!!
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