Practice #4: Sixty Minutes

We had a change of scenery this week. Some sort of snowboarding thing was going on at the Rose Bowl. (Snow?? In Southern California?!) I don't know what it was, but it meant we ended up at Hahamongna Park. I never even knew this place existed, but it is gorgeous.

Unfortunately, it was miserably cold. And that means uncooperative muscles, despite our attempts to warm up. Still, the new scenery was distracting, at least for a little bit.

I was determined to stay in my pace group. I wanted to keep up with Gaily and Janet. It was not to be. Even after walking for a bit, once the intervals started, so did the pain. I tried to just run through it, hoping some sort of runner's high would kick in, but it never did. Gradually, I fell further and further behind, and it took everything in me just to keep walking.

But I was determined. I was going to walk as fast as I could and do the entire sixty minutes.

Mid-Week Practice: Conditioning #3

So this week, there were actually more participants, and not just me. Which was a relief. However, Coach Pete decided we needed to do some variations on the exercises we'd previously done. Now, any time you do a new exercise, it's guaranteed that you will be sore, at least a little bit. Just because you're not used to it. As we were lunging and prancing (okay not really prancing, but it's a funny mental image) across the football field, Coach Gaily looked at me and said, "We're going to be sore tomorrow!"

Unfortunately, variations didn't excuse us from planking. Planks are the worst exercise ever invented. Seriously. And it wasn't made better by the fact that Coach Pete told us there would be cookies later.

But, of course, there were no cookies to be had.

Rude.

Practice #3: Fifty Minutes

This week we were set to run for fifty minutes. But we did our little meeting first. I won a raffle for a donation from teammate Ana, but I won because I was the only person who sent in honored teammate information. So . . . yay me!

Let me preface this picture with the fact that I am not a morning person and I'm usually struggling to come to full awareness during the meetings in the morning. Hence my confused face and atrocious posture.

Next came the mission moment. Erin shared her dad's story. Luckily, he is a survivor and she gets to run in the hopes that, someday, a little girl doesn't have to go through the horror she did at learning her dad had cancer. We got to add his name to our collection of ribbons.

Mid-Week Practice: Conditioning #2

For the second night of conditioning, we got to do two reps of all the leg lifts, bridges, planks, lunges and all of that fun stuff.

I was a little intimidated since I was the only "participant" who showed up. Everyone else was either a coach or a mentor. But luckily - I've said it before and I'll say it again - the TNT staff are the most welcoming and supportive and fun people I've met. It usually takes me ages to be as comfortable with a group of people as I am with them. So, needless to say, it didn't feel at all uncomfortable once we started going.

We did two laps around the track as a warm up (yes, my shins ached a tiny bit while I tried to overcompensate my strides to match Scott's and Gaily's) and then it was down to the exercises.

Some stretches came easier than the last week. Some even felt good after all the running. The duck walk in particular is lovely for the shins.

But some...

I will curse planks and bridged leg lifts until the day I die.

Practice #2: Pace Groups

Big shock: I was put in the last pace group. I'm beyond the point where I feel bad about being slow. At least there's nowhere to go but up, right?

We started with the usual update and mission moment from Coach Gaily. I love the mission moments and the fact that we wear ribbons for each person's story we hear. When I feel like what I'm doing is impossible or I'm feeling sorry for myself, I look at those ribbons and remember the cause I'm running for. Cliche, I know. Or when I ask Katie (my honored teammate) why I'm doing this, she tells me it's because I love her. It's nice to get those reminders when I need them.

After that, the owner of Run With Us in Pasadena spoke to us about gear we need for this journey. (If you've never been to the store, go. They know their stuff. And they're super nice!) I had been to see them a couple months before so I could get a pair of running shoes that fit my gait. Next thing I know, I'm adding a second pair of shoes and a water belt to my mental list of things I will need before the season is over.

On the walk from our meeting place to the Rose Bowl loop, I was trying to keep pace with the front of the group and a teammate I was conversing with. I could feel my shins start to ache. In the back of my mind, I heard a little voice berating my need to push myself, but I shushed it and continued on my way.