Gimme a T....

The old saying goes that it takes a village to raise a child. What about to raise a runner?

My first "team" sport experience was in 12th grade when I joined the cross county team. I continued the team spirit when I went to college and ran 4 years of cross county and 3 years of track. Not only did I make big strides (no pun intended) in my running, but I enjoyed sharing the pain, suffering, laughter and joy with others.

Team 1999

When I left college, I lost my team. I was alone in the running world to fend for myself. No planned week of workouts. No one calling out splits. No where to be at 4pm. I didn't even have to run if I didn't want to. What a strange concept.

I moved to Colorado and found my running again (great to find it at 5300 ft above sea level). I met my husband, found love and another sport...duathlon. Not a team sport. But something other then running, and at that time, I needed something different. I spent about 5 years working at this sport and then other another sport..swimming. Still, I was doing this primarily on my own. No team.

2010. I wanted to run a marathon. I choose to just go to one sport and I still thought I could do it on my own. For 12 weeks, I trained on my own (sometimes with Jeff) and laid mile upon mile. Alone. Cursing...alone. Being proud..alone. Just me and an iPod. I saw my friends with a team. I told myself I could do this on my own. I didn't need a team. In a sense I was too proud to admit that I did want to belong and have a team again. I was determined to do this on my own.

And I did. I ran my first marathon in a respectable time.

But I still longed for a team. A group to be accountable to. To look forward to seeing. To look forward to suffering. To support and encourage each other. I had to take a strong look at what I wanted. I thought about the group I coached and saw their gains and heard what they had to say about being part of a group. I thought back to college. I weighed the pros and cons.

I wrote an email expressing my sincere interest in being on a team. I admitted that I needed and wanted a group of women to run hard and fast with. My biggest gains came with I had that support system. I wanted to not only challenge myself physically, by challenge others in a safe, inviting, and fun atmosphere. I needed a team again. As much as I wanted to deny it, it was the truth. I could not and can not do everything by myself.

Moving into 2011. I am part of a team. A great group of ladies who laugh, curse, and say inappropriate things. But we run hard and have fun. We are ALL making gains and progress. Is it because of each other? I like to think it is.

Team 2010

Rock on~

JK