Friends Don't Let Friends Stop Running

Jason and I had the good fortune to be "forced" to run this last Sunday.

As we mentioned before, we're signed up for the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Half Marathon because our friend, Nicole, is fund raising for that event with Team in Training. She was out visiting this weekend and needed to complete a 5 miler as part of her training so asked if we would do it with her.

Our training location of choice is the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale, CA. Pictured below is our "loop" route around the park.

This reminds me of the importance of a "team effort" mentality for those of us who aren't disciplined or seasoned runners, or at least need accountability. I know when it came to training with the team for our very first marathon, I needed my pace group's encouragement and I benefited from the challenge of pacing with faster runners. Now, Jason and I push each other on. I have never done well trying to run by myself. Maybe someday.

I know that we probably wouldn't have gone out for a 5 miler at 4-1 intervals had Nicole not asked and, without our interval watch and familiarity with where and how far to run, she would've had a more difficult time of it on her own.

I'm glad to say that I think Nicole has been improving in her pace and stamina since our last run together. This time we ran 4-1 intervals, she was conversational and kept pace to the end of each run interval. GO TEAM!