What a difference a day makes….

I have been running with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training for about 18 months now and this weekend opened my eyes to what a huge difference a day can make in how participants feel about their training experience.

Last year I felt as though I discovered a whole new level of running when I joined TNT and went out to run my first Marathon in San Diego.  After Fundraising and Finishing the marathon I stayed on with the Team as a Mentor.  Two of the ladies I have been Mentoring this spring will be running the Fairfield Half Marathon in a few weeks and this weekend was the longest run.  The downside was that neither of the ladies could make the same run so I decided Back-to-Back long runs would be a good test for the training I will need to do later this year in preparation for the Goofy Race & a Half Challenge at Disney.

Early Saturday morning I drove to my now familiar running area to meet Meredith and the other TNT runners gearing up for the Fairfield Half.   Everyone signed in, the Coach handed out laminated cards providing us turn by turn directions of the running route that also included water stop locations and the mileage at each turn.  By 7:11 am we began our journey.

A few hours later runners were making their way back to the parking lot where each broke through a mock finish line ribbon and replenised the calories they exerted with a variety of Cookies, Breads or Fruit and had a choice of water or sports drinks.  Participants cars were also decorated with Purple Ribbons and Ballons, the TNT colors.

Sunday morning the experience was completely different.  I drove 45 minutes in the opposite direction to meet Jennifer at a TNT group run that would expose us to the actual course of the Half Marahon.  The scheduled 7:30 run was not as organized as we have been accustom to and it took nearly a half hour before we were underway.  There were a few course maps but instead of really following the course we started off on some side street near mile 4.    To top it off we were told there would be no water stops until we looped around and returned to the parking area.  After the loop we arrived back to find NO WATER but fortunately we both had supplies in our cars.

The next leg of the course was even more confusing and the streets we were suppose to follow were not all shown on the map. After running a mile out of our way we asked a dog walker for directions which was extremely helpful.  At mile 10 on this humid morning signs of dehydration were setting in and Jennifer mentioned if I hadn’t been there she’d be frightend and crying since we were kind of lost without any support.  We decided to turn back which would leave us only about 3/4 of a mile short of the planned 13 mile run.

As we arrived back at the starting point it dawned on us that we never even signed in and the event hosts were probally clueless as to who was lost on the course.  Talking to other teammates it became appearent that most people made wrong turns at some point along the route due to the lack of quality instructions. 

So my back-to-back long runs gave me a unique perspective from a TNT participants viewpoint.  One tired and sore but feeling insprired by all the effort that coaches and mentors put into created a memorable long run and one feeling disgusted by the chaos and lack of preperation that left her lost and thristy on a 13 miler.

Tags: half marathon, running, team in training