I have been getting back into running the past few months, accomplishing a half-marathon and a 10 mile race. I am ready for more for 2012, and so I have signed up for the Tobacco Road Half-Marathon on March 18. I love running, but what I miss dearly are my running buddies from Chicago. I have decided it is time to find some running buddies in NC, so I am joining a half-marathon training program.
I considered just joining a running club as there are a few down here, but just randomly showing up for one of their weekly runs is intimidating, to say the least. So I started looking around for training programs. Chicago seemed to always have some sort of training program going on, even in the middle of winter, so I just assume that all areas are like that. Not so. However, I did find two programs that start in the next week or two.
One program is for women who want to get into running. Great idea! I love it! But I am already into running. I could run 10 miles tomorrow if I wanted (will probably do only 5 miles so I can be done early and Alan can work on remodeling the bathroom). So, I didn’t think that was the right fit for me. Plus, I like the co-ed natured of the running program I did in Chicago. Having men around seems to help limit the cattiness that can creep up in a group of women, plus it’s nice to have a male perspective on the long runs with our silly conversations.
The other program I found is very much like the programs CARA offered in Chicago. It’s a 12-week program to train for a half-marathon. If anything, the goofy thing is that the goal race is the Marine Corps Half-Marathon which is the same day as the Tobacco Road Half, but it’s in DC, whereas the Tobacco Road race is in Cary, NC, a short drive from my house.
The training program has two runs a week, one on Wednesdays and one on Saturday mornings. I will be skipping the Wednesday run as it is at 6:00 in the evening, right when we sit down to dinner. But I am really looking forward to the Saturday morning runs. Runs are at 7:00, which is a great time. I’m a morning person, and a morning runner, the only bummer is that the run is in Carrboro which is about 30 – 45 minutes away. If the experience is anything like running with CARA and making the friends I made in Chicago, the drive will be well worth it.
