• Why? Why not? •
[1½ MIN READ]
One of my standard questions to GGR club newbies is, “What’s your running like?” It’s just helpful to know where people are so that all of us club members can encourage each other. It helps to build the sense of community.
Lately we’ve gotten a few newbies, all of whom have marathon-running plans. That’s not all that common, so it stands out when it happens (given that 26.2 miles is a huge ask for the vast majority of runners). Those new club members were looking for a running group to keep them motivated. Here we are. Where motivation is really helpful, though, is for long training runs. We Growlers typically do 3-4 miles. Enter other running clubs.
Shawmont Running Club’s standard run is a 14 miler. On any given Saturday—granted—the minority are doing that whole distance (most are doing variations of 5, 8, and 10 miles, with other similar distances); still, you can count on at least a couple of people to be doing that 14 miler. Being a member of both running clubs gives me the opportunity to do introductions from GGR to SRC. So now SRC’s ranks have started swelling, too.
Being a first-time marathoner brings the additional challenge of figuring out how to train. The funny thing about having run more than a few marathons in my 12-year running career is that I like to use SRC to help me keep long-distance work in my back pocket. Did someone(s) pine for a repeat marathon runner to do training with? Umm, sure! I’ll ramp my mileage and do marathon training (again)! I don’t even need an actual marathon to run. So, here we go: ‘Cuz I’m just a lemming waiting my turn to jump off the cliff.
-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative split or positive splat” #dothedue
FINE PRINT ¶Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang (Wäng), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. ¶Cross-posted: (1) Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run (2024’09’25’W Run Message), (2) GGR email list, (3) Cerebruns by CtCloser. ¶This website posting: Cerebrun only with added caption.
iCandybyWangC 