Today was our 2nd team training session.  We met at Lake Park Bistro and after our team cheer and question of the day, Coach Tim outlined a 1 mile route that we were to do for 1 hour.  A 1 mile route sounded easy enough until I learned it included running up the stairs to get to Lake Park Bistro.  So off we went- the best part of the run was going down the big hill, which I had only had the pleasure of running up in the past, but running down the hill led us to the bottom of the stairs.  The stairs kicked my but- but how motivating is this- as I was kind of pulling myself up the stairs I looked up and there is Coach Tim at the top with a huge smile and clapping for me!  He also ran with me for a while- I told him I don’t really like to talk while I’m running and he totally understood- but just having him run beside me helped a lot- it kept me running when I was getting kind of tired.
   
I ran 5.1 miles in 60 minutes and felt like a rock star after.  I love running with my Team Challenge teammates and really look forward to our run time together.
Lesson learned on this run:
1) Warm-up takes longer than you think.  It takes me about 3 miles to warm up.  Those 3 miles are tough, but once I make it through- I feel like I could run forever
2) Dress for the weather.  I did not dress properly today.  I wore shorts and my legs were freezing- should have worn pants.
3) Running with other people helps.  I’ve never run with a group before and I was nervous about it- Would I be able to keep up?  What if I was the slowest?  There are people of varying running abilities and we all are there for the same reason: to do our best, support eachother and run for Crohns.  Running with a group helps me a lot!
4) Get good shoes:  I bought a new pair of running shoes yesterday and it feels so much better.  Treat yourself to good shoes- worth every penny.

So my first week of Team Challenge training is complete and was a lot of fun! I am very excited about week 2.