Finally, I got up the nerve to send the email. You see, not too much makes me nervous, but this one was quite a leap.
During most of the last year and a half of my post-army “reintroduction to running”, I have been the proverbial “lone wolf”. Most of the time during the week, it’s just the treadmill and me. On the weekends, if I’m not racing, I hit the road and do the long runs all by my lonesome. This is one of the cool things about the sport, you can be on your own, or you can be part of a group – it’s your choice! I sort of find the solitude appealing; no cell phones ringing, no little boys tearing up things, and home improvement projects. Nope, it’s just the road and me.
One day, I was reading in the bible (Runner’s World) about the value of speed work. For my first marathon last year in Memphis, I didn’t even know what speed work was. But Doug 08’ is smarter than Doug 07’ – if you want to run faster, you have to train faster. Hence the evolution of speed work in my BOA marathon plan.
I call it “Speed Work Wednesday”. It’s the one workout each week I push myself perhaps farther than I should. I mix it up from 400 repeats, 800 repeats, to mile hard runs. My treadmill is smoking! My boys sit and watch me and remind me not to fall off. These workouts are killers, but although I haven’t taken home any trophies lately, I am feeling much stronger than ever before.
I thought to myself “if speed work works on my own, it must work really well with a group”, where better to find a group than the local running store – Toolen’s Running Start (this is where the Mike part comes in to play). Mike Toolen owns The Running Start. He is somewhat an icon in local running circles. I believe he is in his mid-sixties, smaller in stature, white hair, and you will see him EVERYWHERE you go for anything running related. I ran his “Top O’ The Morning” 5K this spring, he is the official timer for the lead pack of the St. Louis Marathon, I even saw him when I pulled in to the expo parking lot for the Memphis Marathon last year. He is everywhere! He is one of these guys you just know will be cool when you actually meet him.
Anyway, I sent Mike an email to see if he has any group speed works or runs that are sponsored by his store. He sent me a message back that they do on Tuesdays and that they are for runners of all levels. I’m in! The group meets tonight, but it is 100 degrees in St. Louis today with a heat index (whatever that is) of 110. So in spite of my high level of motivation, next Tuesday might be a better introduction. Finally, my chance to hang with real “runner friends” – hope I can be like Mike!
During most of the last year and a half of my post-army “reintroduction to running”, I have been the proverbial “lone wolf”. Most of the time during the week, it’s just the treadmill and me. On the weekends, if I’m not racing, I hit the road and do the long runs all by my lonesome. This is one of the cool things about the sport, you can be on your own, or you can be part of a group – it’s your choice! I sort of find the solitude appealing; no cell phones ringing, no little boys tearing up things, and home improvement projects. Nope, it’s just the road and me.
One day, I was reading in the bible (Runner’s World) about the value of speed work. For my first marathon last year in Memphis, I didn’t even know what speed work was. But Doug 08’ is smarter than Doug 07’ – if you want to run faster, you have to train faster. Hence the evolution of speed work in my BOA marathon plan.
I call it “Speed Work Wednesday”. It’s the one workout each week I push myself perhaps farther than I should. I mix it up from 400 repeats, 800 repeats, to mile hard runs. My treadmill is smoking! My boys sit and watch me and remind me not to fall off. These workouts are killers, but although I haven’t taken home any trophies lately, I am feeling much stronger than ever before.
I thought to myself “if speed work works on my own, it must work really well with a group”, where better to find a group than the local running store – Toolen’s Running Start (this is where the Mike part comes in to play). Mike Toolen owns The Running Start. He is somewhat an icon in local running circles. I believe he is in his mid-sixties, smaller in stature, white hair, and you will see him EVERYWHERE you go for anything running related. I ran his “Top O’ The Morning” 5K this spring, he is the official timer for the lead pack of the St. Louis Marathon, I even saw him when I pulled in to the expo parking lot for the Memphis Marathon last year. He is everywhere! He is one of these guys you just know will be cool when you actually meet him.
Anyway, I sent Mike an email to see if he has any group speed works or runs that are sponsored by his store. He sent me a message back that they do on Tuesdays and that they are for runners of all levels. I’m in! The group meets tonight, but it is 100 degrees in St. Louis today with a heat index (whatever that is) of 110. So in spite of my high level of motivation, next Tuesday might be a better introduction. Finally, my chance to hang with real “runner friends” – hope I can be like Mike!
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