The Team had 6 miles on the schedule today, followed by a pancake breakfast.
“Pancakes, pancakes, pancakes!” is a pretty good mantra to keep motivation high!

We kind of got off to a slow start, with taking care of business and announcements before moving. I think things need to be a little more brief as the temperatures are starting to move up. It wasn’t too bad this morning, but it was still fairly warm and the path we ran on today was in full sunlight with no shade. 3 miles out and back, much of it very stark and open without any trees or even plants. I ran on this same path a couple years ago when I trained with TNT and it was BRUTAL in July, the heat just radiated off the blacktop path and surrounding rock.

My basic training philosophy for the team breaks down like this:

Runners – Slow down a little! Keep the pace slightly easier than what they are capable of doing, be able to keep a conversation. This should prevent burn out or injury, plus should get them across the finish line, the ultimate goal for this group.

Walkers – Speed it up a little! The course closes in 3 hours 15 minutes, meaning people must keep a 15:00 minute mile pace. That’s a solid, brisk walk; so the walkers need to get used to pushing themselves along at a good clip.

I have to admit, I’m a little perplexed at that time limit. For an event that is done in conjunction with a charity where many participants may be afflicted with an illness, it seems more prudent to have a 4 hour limit. But then, they do have to deal with permits and road closures, which I can appreciate. But I am a little bit concerned that there could be a lot of people (not just from my Team, but from Team Challenge groups all over) that end up in the sag wagon at the back of the pack.

I ended up covering 7.5 miles today, but a solid 2.5 miles were done walking my last groups back in. That’s fine with me, I enjoy talking with everyone! Plus the excitement and joy they experience as they cover longer distances really shows, even if they are tired. Excitement and joy are contagious emotions!

Post training I skipped the pancake breakfast to head over to the DSA race that was going on, Moms’ Rock 10K/5K/1mi, so I could help with post-race wrap-up. I got there as everyone was leaving, but just in time for me to move all the heavy stuff into Fleet Feet so Jimmy could pick it up later on with his truck. 🙂

Next weekend the Team moves up to 7 miles!

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I am coaching a group of runners for the organization Team Challenge. They are fundraising for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America while training to run the Napa to Sonoma half marathon in July.