A new philosophy

Today I went on my first group run with the DRC marathon training group.  This year the group is following a different type of training plan, one which I don't know if I'll be able to get used to...

Most training plans prescribe running a certain number of miles on certain days of the week, leading up to running a distance close to the race you're training for (14 miles for a half marathon, 20 miles for a full marathon, etc.).  The training program the running group is using this year is all time based, with different lengths being run/walked each week.  And it's set up like a board game, where you earn points for completing specific workouts during specific weeks.

I'm a pretty simple person when it comes to my fitness: tell me what to do, and I'll do it.  Do 25 crunches?  No problem.  Run 4 miles?  Got it.  Run 1 minute then walk 4 minutes, and repeat 4 times? I don't know if I like that... there are defined parameters, but time is so different than counts and distance.

But I paid my money, and so I am going to play along.  Maybe I'll end up liking this type of program.  Maybe I'll just grin and bear it to get the other benefits of running with a group (social, consistency, progress, etc.).  Only time will tell.

Today's Run

Today I ran 3.92 miles in 35:01, for an average pace of 8:56, with the running group.  The goal for today's run was running for 35 minutes.  The Lakewalk was pretty slushy, so the footing was not so good, but the weather was so nice compared to just even earlier this week, with a balmy 25F at 8:00 AM.  We'll see what happens at group next Tuesday.