and so, we ran.

First let me start with this. The folks at Runners World of Tulsa are terrific people. The owners treat each runner like family. You are welcomed from the moment you step in the door. The same goes for 99.9% of the seasoned runners that are there. Just a great group of people who like to run. Runners show up at Runners world with jogging strollers, kids, and dogs. We pack the store (dogs included) and no one minds the close quarters. Most of the veteran runners cheer on the newbies (like me) and it is a great community feeling. My fellow Couch to 5K'ers are helping each other along and spreading encouragement around the group. It is awesome. If you are looking to train for a Couch to 5K program I cannot emphasise enough how great this group is.

Save one person. Admittedly our group is not terribly trail savvy and sometimes clusters a bit wide on the trails. As one person went past she took the time to tell Coach Kathy that "She needed to do something about this problem". The rest of us heard her. I can only imagine how Coach Kathy might have felt - she is a tough lady but ultimately she is a business owner. Her business is running. The only way her business can expand is by getting more people involved in running. It was a bit awkward. I hope it does not turn off anyone in my group to running. I hope the lady who said that has since had time to mull over how better to handle this. I am quite certain it will happen again, next time a little more tact might be employed.

Now on to RUNNING. Yes Running. We really did RUN. 1 min Run, 1 min walk. Not going to lie. At first it was fine, not too bad. About 1/3 of the way into it I started to get a 'stitch in my side' each time we ran there after that pain happened. As we would walk the pain would subside just in time to run, with each run also meant the return of the dreaded side stitch. In the end I was a bit sore but over all quite proud of my progress. I certainly could not have managed that just weeks ago.



photo curtosey of www.istockphoto.com