Week One of Marathon Training

So it begins. I awoke to a cold, blustery May morning here in Chicago as our Crossroads Runners group began our training for the Chicago Marathon.

It was nice to start to get to know other runners in the group as we ran and stretched our way from Oz Park to the lakefront. I think we were all a little nervous, thinking, "What have I gotten myself into," and "Are these the people I want to be doing this with?" Without the motivation of training with a group, I'm sure we all would have stayed in bed a bit longer this morning.

On the running path it was interesting to see hundreds of other runners up at 8:00 AM on a Saturday morning running. I think there is comfort in numbers when you think about the madness of training to run 26.2 miles. You figure, "Well at least I'm no the only crazy person who has signed up to run this thing." I think there is a little bit of scoping each other out to see who's got the coolest running outfit and wondering privately if yours measures up. All that ego stuff kind of fades away quickly though when it's time to run. A little bit of conversation here and there, but mostly trying to settle in and center yourself on the long journey ahead. Thanks for your support!