Join the Club?

As much as I do enjoy running alone, sometimes I miss the social aspect of running with a group. I remember in high school when I used to run cross country. Our coach would tell us to just go out and run for an hour and my friends and I would hit the trails and just gab (or even sing!) the whole time. It was so fun and that hour just flew by! It was also fun chatting about running and having someone to talk about your goals with. I mean, for each meet we would all set target times and cheer each other on towards reaching them. It was a great motivation and we built wonderful friendships. I do miss that! As great as my DH is about listening to my running rants, I'm also well aware that he does it because he loves ME, not running! And as far as running himself...well he'll be the first to mention that he just does not like running. He'll run a mile or so to get warmed up for a workout, but beyond that, he'd probably have to be chased by something ferocious to go any farther! Since none of my other close friends or family run, I was thinking about joining a running group.

I decided to look online at some local running stores to see if they sponsored anything. It turns out that as I checked out my local Fleet Feet's website, I was psyched to learn that they are beginning some training sessions. They have two different training groups, both of which are geared towards running a specific race. The first is a beginner's 5K but the second is for a half marathon! I thought, YES -- that's perfect for me! Then, check this out -- the specific race they are training for the Cleveland Clinic Health River Run Half Marathon! That is the EXACT race I wanted to run for my first half! (I mean, I've even already listed it in my "Races of 2008" blog list! Just look!)It's like destiny! So I clicked on the link to find out more. Here's what it basically says,

• Cost is $100 which includes all coaching, training schedule, clinics, support, "goodies" and race entry fee.
• Participants in the program also receive a 10% discount off all Fleet Feet purchases during the training period.
• The sponsor this year is Saucony and all registrants will receive a technical t-shirt, water bottle and a shoe bag.
• Group runs every Wednesday evening and Sunday morning.

What do you think? At first I was thinking the $100 was kind of steep, but then I saw that the $100 includes the race fee which I was assuming was going to be around $40-50 anyway. Then you get all kinds of stuff like the tech shirt, bottle, shoe bag and of course the coaching which I am kind of psyched for! It's one thing to prepare for a race by reading about it, but to have someone coaching you along the way is pretty cool! And to do it with a bunch of other people who all have the same goal -- very awesome! I mean, can you imagine how cool it will be on race day to run with people you've been training with and to cheer them on (and of course have a little cheering section for yourself too!) I'm pretty excited about checking it out. There's an informational meeting in about 4 weeks, so it's still pretty far off. The Fleet Feet store has group runs on Wed and Sun regardless though, so I think as soon as school is out (3 more weeks!) I'll go check it out! I think it'll be a great way to improve my running, and who knows, maybe I'll make some new friends too! :-)