Running With a Pack

First I have to thank the group of women whom I ran with today: Kate, Monica, Sophie, and someone else whose name I don’t know yet. I was gasping for air too much to ask. With their assistance, I managed to push my pace for 12 miles. Since my mental toughness has been wavering the past few years, I have to rely on the toughness of others to pull me through the tough parts of the run. Our pack of five runners hung together for about the last five miles of the course.

Let me track back a little bit. Today it was my turn to get misdirected on the course. Because we didn’t get an email from Todd this week regarding the directions, I relied on my faulty memory thinking that the 12 milers didn’t have to turn into a cul-de-sac on the course. Because of this, I guided Monica incorrectly into running about a quarter mile short of a full 12 miles (I made up the difference past the finish line, thanks to my GPS watch). My apologies, Monica. But if not for my mistake, we never would have caught up with Sophie who was fast out of the starting gate as usual.

Somehow between seven and eight miles, five people converged into a pack and we ran together the rest of the way, occasionally passing each other for short periods. I have no business running with these young whippersnappers but I just tried my best to keep up till the finish. Without them, I probably might have run a lot slower. While we were running together, I felt the pace pick up considerably compared to the earlier miles and I based this on how much harder my breathing became. I noticed that my heavy stride slapping the pavement was noisier than the strides of the four girls combined. But because I was running with this pack of strong women, I got pulled by them into finishing hard. So ladies, thank you so very much for your help today. You kicked my butt today but it’s the kind of hurt that feels good.