Yowza.

Well Saturday was my first group run in 3 weeks. I was very nervous, as i've had to take a break from running due to my muscle strains.  But i knew i couldn't miss another long run - so i somehow managed to convince my boyfriend Tom to go with me, in case i needed someone to carry me back to the car. :P

<--- (My savior for the day.)


I wore my calf compression wraps and took it nice and easy. The first mile was fine, and Coach Dave caught up to us on his bike & gave me some tips on how to stretch my calves. A little after the first mile, we stopped and stretched, as my left calf was starting to tighten up a bit.

Poor Tom, he had pulled his hamstring playing soccer a few weeks back and it came back to haunt him later in the run.

I would complain that i wanted to stop and walk and he would say "Ok let's just make it to the next tree, then we can walk." Of course once we reached that tree, he would say "No, i meant the next tree." and so on and so forth. I finally told him to shove his little game and stopped for a walking break. :)

We reached Coach Dave at the 4 mile mark and he gave us instructions where to go. Of course, that involved running up a hill. I wanted to walk, but drill sgt. Tom made me run up it. We stretched at the top of the hill and that's when Tom's hamstring really started acting up. I felt super bad, bc he was in a lot of pain and my stopping to walk breaks made it flare up even more.

We turned around to finish the course and ran past the biggest house i've ever seen. No kidding, this place had its own tennis court, pool and bocce ball court. Had to have been a ball player or something. We reached the final mile of our run and i told Tom i would run the whole thing, so he didn't have to keep stopping to walk with me. About half way through i wanted to quit because my body was SO tired, but he wouldn't let me. I was kinda irritated with him at the time, but i'm glad he pushed me. He was right, i didn't need to quit - i just wanted to. My body was tired, but i still had it in me to finish that final mile - even though i desperately wanted to wuss out!

We finished the 8 miles (9, according to the Nike+) and hobbled off to breakfast.

The schedule called for 3 miles today, but i think i am going to put it off until tomorrow. My entire body is sore and my left calf is still acting up. The bright side is that my right calf has no problems at all.

Crazy Coach Dave's schedule calls for another 8 miles on Thanksgiving and our group run is 9 miles on Saturday. Ugh!! My body is definitely going to feel that for weeks to come...


Distance: 9.18 miles
Time: 1:50
Avg Pace: 12'02" mile