Jackie D. Week 3

Week 3- starting Monday 2 October 2006
Well so far so good. It was lovely meeting some of the other people signed up for Lake Placid last Friday and other members of the Train-This! Team. Most of us seem to be first- timers which is comforting although I don't know really why that should be so!
We also had a group run on Sunday and the lead up to this were my first thoughts of the fact that I might just be a bit crazy. All through the night Saturday I kept waking up hearing the rain beating down and then the alarm went off. It was still raining, pitch black and as I stumbled around the bathroom trying not to wake my darling hubby and trying to remember just where I had put my running shoes a few hours earlier, I thought that this was completely abnormal for a Sunday morning. I would go to the meeting place because I said I would be there but I expected no one else to be there and would be back in my cozy bed shortly.
But oh no, as I neared the meeting place and dawn had broken and the rain stopped I realised that for many people this isn't strange at all and there were 7 of us there ready for the 7am run. And what a beautiful run it was. Through the parkland with the sun trying to peep out and the deer watching us and us watching the deer. Last workout of week 2 completed and my family still zzzzzing away ( have I mentioned that I am not a morning person although I do aspire to be one!)
Some comments to beginners like myself now on group training. I train with a masters swim group where there is enough variety to pick your pace but for running and cycling I have always trained alone. Mostly because I enjoy being out there, just me and nature (and sometimes the dog) but a little bit is because I am scared of pacing. I am one of those people who doesn't excel in anything (including speed in sports) but I am average plus on a lot of things (including sports I try - except water skiing but that is another story) so triathlon really appeals as I spread my abilities so to speak. So, there I was on that Sunday morning with my trainer and some other team mates who I knew (yes I look at their results) were A LOT faster than me and I just didn't know what to expect. And you know what - IT WAS OK. They didn't have to keep waiting for me (or if they did they communicated telepathically and were very good at not letting me know it!) and I felt great. OK I was working a lot harder than them on the hills on the way back but heh- training with people faster than me must be a benefit to my fitness! I think a lot of it comes down to self-confidence. I would still be scared rigid at the thought of going for a bike ride with a group of them but whereas last week I would just not go, now I would consider it and give it my all