The term “slow” runner always makes me feel a little twitchy. What exactly makes a runner slow? What times do you need to hit to be considered fast? Nicole and I coach Cross Country and our fastest runs don’t even come close to these high school athletes!
Unless you are a world-renowned, elite athlete, there is ALWAYS going to be someone faster. Speaking of….I had the opportunity to go run with Mammoth Track Club last month, held June through October at the Whitmore Track in Mammoth California where the elevation is about 7000 feet. I’m a decent runner but my sea-level lungs might have made me the slowest runner on the track that day…not to mention that the workout was led by the current American woman’s marathon record holder, Deena Kastor. Talk about feeling slow!!
The thing is, in running, speed is relative. Heat slows us down, dehydration can increase our heart rate, stress and fatigue can wear on our bodies, the wrong shoes can feel too heavy, the right shoes can boost our mood, the right running partner can make 10 miles feel like 2, and a good mindset can literally change how hard a run feels…in other words, runners are a little like Goldilocks. “The temperature this morning is a little too cold, this shirt is a little too hot, but these shoes are juust right.” Training helps us figure out what works for us and what doesn’t. It’s very individual. What works for me, may not work for you. And when all my Goldilocks needs are met and I beat my fastest time, but it’s slower than everyone else, should I feel bad? Hell no! I’m going to brag to everyone about my 2 minute PR and how I beat my biggest competitor…MYSELF!
On that note, we have 20 weeks until City to the Sea on November 21st!! (and about 19 weeks until the Wine Country Run in Paso Robles November 7th-14th!) This month, we’ll be starting our group runs with “Base Camp,” a running program that will be starting out with low mileage to begin building a solid base and work into training for the upcoming half marathons. This will be geared towards runners that haven’t run in a while and are starting over and new-ish runners that are up to a few miles and wanting to train for a 10k or half marathon.
If you’re interested in participating, please contact me ASAP so I can include you in an email that includes the training plan for the month, a link to a Google doc that you can record your mileage (aka accountability journal), as well as any other updates. We will meet during our regularly scheduled runs on Tuesday mornings at 7am, Thursday evenings at 6pm, and Saturday mornings at 7am.
Our first run will start this Tuesday, July 6th at 7am at the Templeton Park. We’ll warm up together, run/walk 1-1.5 miles and cool down afterwards. (Be sure to bring a yoga mat for stretching!) Thursdays will typically be at the track but we’ll meet at the park on July 8th at 6pm to pack up the shoes collected from the Soles4Souls Shoe drive after our run.
We still have a few shoe donations trickling in! We’ll get a total count on Thursday and be able to announce which drop off location brought in the most shoes! A big “THANK YOU!!!” to Kennedy Club Fitness in Paso Robles, Templeton Recreation Department, ARC Physical Therapy, Twin Cities Community Hospital, K-Man Cyclery and GH Sports in San Luis Obispo that all made this shoe drive possible! I am still SO impressed by the quality of shoes that have been donated and am so proud to send these to people and communities that can truly use them. Bring your tape gun and come on by to lend a hand! We’ll get a group picture with our over 200 shoes collected!!! Hope to see you!
Happy Running!
Rosalie Smith
rosaliesmith@templetonrunclub.com
Templeton Run Club
PO Box 522
Templeton, Ca. 93465