One Can Never Have Too Many Running Friends

We’ve got seven runners representing the Cruisers tomorrow morning at the George Washington Parkway Classic Ten Mile Run, and I’m one of them.  This morning would have been the perfect morning to sleep in, but a healthy dose of FOMO (fear of missing out), got me out of bed at 6:20 and on the running trail by 7 AM for a few shake-out miles.

A few shake-out miles with my MRTT friends, that is.  Our All Chapter Run was scheduled for this morning, and I enjoy my time with these ladies so much that I didn’t want to miss out on the fun!

One of the things I love about this group is how resourceful everyone can be.  We had ladies meeting at 6, 6:30, and 7 AM for their runs depending on how far they planned to run, and within those groups there were varying paces.  The goal for everyone (all 60) was to get back to the pavilion by 8 AM for our welcome, warm-up, and 30-minute group run.

I ran with three different groups, taking pictures along the way.  Just call me a running ho, because I’ll run with anyone!

Back at the pavilion at 8 AM, our chapter co-leaders Erin and Amanda, welcomed us, thanked our sponsors, and handed out charms celebrating our chapter’s second birthday.  When I joined the group in January 2014 we had about 50 members, and today we have 592 members.

I totally stole the idea to make this little birthday graphic from Erin.  She posted her prettier version of this to our Facebook page, and I thought, “Hmmm……… Give me two hours and I can do that, too.”   Thank you, Erin!  I am constantly learning new tricks from you, and that’s just another reason I promoted you to media director of my blog last June! 😉

 

With runners continuing to trickle in from their earlier miles, we got a quick photo before everyone headed back out for the group 30-minute out-and-back run.

To warm up the group (many of whom were already warmed up), I lead the group in dynamic stretches.  We did side-to-side leg swings, dynamic lunges, skip claps, and hacky sacks.  Stay tuned to a future post including these and many more dynamic stretches.

While most of the group headed out for the group run, drinks and breakfast magically appeared.  Erin, Amanda, and Jackie put in a tremendous amount of work pulling our event together.  Thank you, ladies!

Having completed five miles already, I took off for home to enjoy my “day before my race” breakfast.  Not that bananas and a bagel wouldn’t have been perfect, but that’s more of a race morning breakfast for me.

After I left and the runners returned, they gathered for breakfast, prize drawings, and a post-run photo.  My friend Gayle was kind enough to allow me to use a few of the photos she took.

Once home I enjoyed scrambled eggs and a bowl of equal amounts oats, blueberries, and strawberries.  It was as delicious as it looks!

So my weekend that started out with my MRTT friends will end with my Cruiser friends tomorrow morning, and I couldn’t be happier!  Stay tuned for my GW Parkway recap in the next few days!

 

 

• Questions:
• What’s on your agenda for today?
• What’s the weather like where you live? ~ It was in the mid-forties when we ran.  It could be worse. It could be 39° and raining like it is in Blacksburg.  Bill and are very happy we decided to skip the spring game this year! 🙂
  
• Who raced this morning, or is racing tomorrow morning?