Huzzah!

Group Run Number One under my belt!

As I looked at my new sports watch on Saturday at 5:49 a.m., I thought, "This is serious." I don't get out of bed weekdays this early, but our trainers suggested we get up and do our normal morning routines so our bodies are awake for the 7 a.m. run. PB on a bagel, a few sips of coffee, my vitamins, some OJ, checked my emails - lovely. The kiddlywinks were waking as I was slipping out the door; hubby extraordinaire sending well wishes as he pour himself some joe.

I turned up The Newsboys as I drove the five or so minutes to the park. A bunch of gals had gathered already, some in shorts, running skorts, pants, sleeveless, short-sleeved and long-sleeved shirts, and/or jackets; the clothing needs were as uncertain as some of us felt. We heard some announcements from our fearless leader, Amy, and we sorted ourselves into 1, 2, and 3 mile groups. The gals I knew best went to the 3 mile group while I stuck to the familiar 2 mile distance.

The gals in my group had a range of experience, and perhaps I was on the declining side of this bell curve (which gave me a bit of an internal boost). We started out around the track for our warm up and I spoke with a former high school runner, Kim. When we all got going for the actual run, Kim "the gazelle" I called her, pranced away. A bit quicker than the rest of us, she darted straight when she should have gone left. "What's her name? Call after her!" one of the gals suggested. For the question, I offered the name, "Jen." A co-runner hollered for "Jen" (aka Kim), but she didn't turn around. Another member of our band said she would catch up with the gazelle, and we should continue on the correct course. So, I started running with this willing-to-holler-co-runner. She introduced herself as Jen. A few minutes later, I realized the gazelle's name is KIM! and the gal I was currently running with is Jen! OH, I what an idiot! Jen and I chuckled a bit about this, and then I told her, "well, they both have three letters. My brain works like that a bit". As the words fell out of my mouth, I wanted to hide! I felt like Rainman! Would this self mortifying event ever end?

Well, by then, one mile was done. The real Jen and I ran the rest of the way together, talking about our kids and our lack of experience. We were panting a bit more than we should have, but in the end - we clocked in at 25 minutes. I was pretty happy about that. And I was happy to see Gazelle Kim waiting at the park for us. I apologized and everyone was OK with my slip up. I knew I certainly would have lost my job on the Pony Express or as Paul Revere for such an error. "The Orange Coats are coming, the Orange Coats are coming!"
"Uh, Paul (Paula), whom, pray tell, are the Orange Coats?"
"I thought I saw orange coats, no? Pink? Red? maybe red? I know it was in that color family..."

Well, all's well that ends well. My friend Christina (a 3 mile mama) and I were done by 8:00 and we could go see our boys in their third tball game. Next week, maybe I'll be in the three mile loop. I'll be on the incline of that bell curve for experience, but the week after we're being timed for 3 miles - I've got to get my groove on!