The Power of a Group

Last year I ran by myself almost exclusively. Which didn't bother me since it provides me with some much needed down time and decompression time. But I must say that since I've been running with my buddies at Kennebec Valley Coaching I've been so much more consistent and I push myself so much more, which all adds up to becoming a stronger runner.

It's kind of hard to tell but my hair is a solid block of ice and I have frost/ice on my face.

Take this morning's run for instance. It was -10 at 8 am this morning and I'm sitting in my car waiting for my friends Trisha, Lynn, and Karen to show up for our long run. We'd planned an 8 miler. Trisha ended up being the only one who made it (Lynn and Karen were with us in spirit though:) and we went along our way. Now, if I had just made a pact with myself to run 8 miles this morning I would have looked at the temperature and said &$^# it and gone back to bed. But there is something special about persevering together in such adverse conditions. Did I mention it snowed yesterday so that there was about 1-1.5 inches of fresh fluffy snow covering the trail? We took our time and had plenty of oomph at the end to really push the last 1/2 mile. But if Trisha hadn't been there waiting for me, I would not have thought I would be able to do it. I would have quit.

I find the same this is true with my strength training. I don't particularly like to strength train, but I know that it is important and necessary for me to become a stronger runner, so I begrudgingly do it. If I do it on my own, I KNOW I don't push myself. As soon as the abs start to burn, or the legs start to shake I quit. But not when I workout with the group. I do boot camp and Winter Warriors classes at KVC and I push myself every minute of every workout. I don't think it's a matter of me being super competitive or anything like that, it's the energy from the amazing people in that class that help me see my potential. They encourage me when I need it most and help me push through barriers I thought were impenetrable.

The power of the group is nothing to be scoffed at. The group lifts you up when you feel defeated, it cheers you on when you feel on top of the world, it sees in you the things you can't see yourself, and it's there to support you however you may need it. I'm so incredibly blessed to have found a motivator and coach like Amy Lawson, and a group of amazing running buddies (Trisha, Lynn O, Lynn F, Beth, Aimee, Brenda, Sue, Karen, and the rest of the group at KVC).