First Team Saturday Run

Laying in bed Friday night, I felt like a kid on the eve of the first day of school. I'll admit it, I was excited for the first team run the next morning! I had all my gear out and ready. I woke up the next morning, ate my trusted bagel, got ready and was out the door by 7:30am to catch the T. There were more people out and about than I would have thought. I guess 7:30 isn't that early.

We all met at 8am in Back Bay at BSC. What a gym! I couldn't believe how big it is! Before our run, we gathered in a room and had our first clinic. Shane from Marathon Sports gave a great talk on proper footwear, apparel and gear.

Some things I thought were interesting:

• Cotton is the runner's worst enemy (it absorbs and holds moisture = makes you feel wet and uncomfortable while running)
• The ideal running form is like that of a marching solider, straight up and down, rather than leaning forward. Leaning puts your weight over your knees in an unnatural way and could lead to pain.
• Your knee should track directly over your ankle with each stride. This prevents injury and knee/leg/foot pain.

The actual run was good, a little icy at some spots which required high, little short steps to get past and avoid falling. When you run in a large group you naturally fall in line with those who are your same pace. I was happy that three others ran a similar pace as I, and so we stuck together.

After some stretching and visiting with my new teammates post-run, everyone slowly started trickling out. I headed to Marathon Sports, to check out their 30% off sale on winter apparel. Shane's 'informational session' clearly had an impact, and hey, I can't resist a sale. I was in need of a running jacket, which I had been thinking about getting to round out my winter/spring running wear. It blocks the wind and rain, and is light weight so you can wear it over a mid layer, or even just a base layer as the weather warms up.

When I arrived at the store, half the team was there! Everyone was stocking up on tops, compression tights, jackets, sneakers. One thing's for sure, we'll all be looking good on our next run!