A Group, Meaning Two

There are billions of running clubs and group runs available in San Francisco. This city is head-over-heels in love with running, bless their filthy hearts. There are so many to choose from that I have one meet on Wednesday nights as close as 3 blocks from my house.

Sweet.

Metrosport in the Marina (no, I don't live in the Marina—stop asking that) was the group run of choice, and I ambled down at 6:00 to meet the group.

As it turns out, the group was me and one other guy. Apparently they just started doing the group, and have major Wednesday night competition from the Nike folk, who are gearing up for their October 19th Women's Marathon. Metrosport feels like things'll pick up for them once the Nike event is over. I hope so, because it sure is convenient for me.

Greg, the other guy, and I headed out for what he said would be a half-hour run. I was supposed to run 5 miles today, but I figured what the hell. I anticipated a faster pace than I'm used to for the group run, and even though it was just the two of us, Greg seemed pretty accomplished. Sacrificing a little bit of distance for a little bit of speed probably won't hurt me in the long run.

Looking at the Nike+ widget, it sure looks like we kept one hell of an even pace during this run. As predicted, we went sorta slightly a little fast. A little. Sorta. Maybe we just held my "faster" pace more consistently.

It ended up being nearly an hour long, 4 mile slog. Greg is a cool guy and was nice enough to hang back and wait for me. He did drive the pace the whole time, keeping things a wee bit faster than I would have. Good stuff. As is my specialty, I crapped out on the home stretch and walked. All in all, however, I feel like I did pretty well.

Looking forward to future, more "group-y" group runs. I can see how running with folks that are better than you are can elevate your game.

Oh, and I totally blew off my weightlifting. Damn. I had to come home to pick up my gym stuff (read: towel), and by the time I got back home, chatted with @LosBee and got ready to turn around and head back out, I was feeling sort of splinty. Like shin splinty. Which I don't like feeling.

Must be my attempts at higher speeds from Sunday, yesterday and today that are irritating my tibial connective tissue and musculature.

Anyway, I said "screw it", ripped off the sweaty togs and wrapped my lower legs in ice and Ace bandages. Good times. Hopefully everything will be good to go tomorrow.