First "Official" Run

Today was the first Saturday morning run for Team Memorial. I got back home sometime after 1am last night, went to sleep, and promptly woke up at 6am to go run. We met at the park, went through information and announcements, warmed up, stretched, then started out on our 3 mile run.

The point of this run was basically to determine each person's current pace. They asked us to only run (or walk) at a pace where we could also converse with another person. Everyone got a color-coded shoe tag at the end of the run to note their pace group.

A couple of people I know from Rice are also running with Team in Training, and it was really exciting to see them. One of them (my freshman Emily) ran a faster pace than I could have managed, but Kelli and I are both new to this whole running thing, so we ran together. Kelli is currently in remission from stage IV Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Her story is a big part of what finally convinced me to take on this challenge. It was really nice to catch up with her as we ran (it definitely helped keep my mind off of the running).

We walked a bit here and there, but we definitely ran far more of the distance than we walked. We finished our 3 miles in about 43 minutes - a little less than 15 minutes a mile. That puts us right at the top of the slowest training group. I think that's a good place for me.

After the run, we went to a shoe and apparel clinic, and I bought shoes and socks and other useful things. Now my feet are protected from the running, and I have made a significant financial contribution to this madness. Too late to quit now...

In other news, I let my brother-in-law (who is a physical therapist) work on my IT Bands while I was in Florida. I've had trouble with them before, and the trouble manifests in my knees. Since I don't want my knees quitting on me during this process, I thought it wouldn't hurt to let him try to clean them up a bit. He was pretty impressed by how tight and knotted they are, and he managed to cause me quite a bit of pain. They feel a lot better now. I will be spending a lot of time with the evil muscle rolling device (I can't explain it better, but people who have used them know exactly what I am talking about).

The important thing, though, is that I made it through 3 miles today. And I didn't feel completely awful after (hot, sweaty, and gross, but not awful). I might actually be able to do this thing.