I found out the other day that I will be on The Runners Roost Race Team. Runners Roost is a specialty running store here in Denver, and every year they sponsor a certain number of people that are runners. Now the good thing is that one does not have to be fast to be on the race team, which is a damn good thing, because I’m far from fast. Well, I’m not slow, and I guess for my age, I don’t do too bad. We get some free clothing, but mostly we get huge discounts on everything they carry in the store. Now there is what I call the “A” team on the race team. These are runners that have been sponsored by The Roost before. These guys do get mostly free stuff. I’m a newbie this year along with a few others, and we are the “B” team, or you could call us the JV team. I remember when I first got into running and went shopping for new shoes at The Roost. I felt kind of intimidated because I was new to the sport, and I was afraid of looking like a stooge. But the people there were real nice, and talked to me about how I run and came up with some suggestions for shoes. They were never pushy, so I don’t think they are on commission, they were just some very knowledgeable people that knew their stuff. Now that they sponsor me, I feel that I can go in there now and tell them how what running really is all about! Yeah right.
Archive for the ‘Runners Roost’
I’m back to it finally.
It’s about time that I write something. I’ve just been having a mental block as far as writing goes. I can always write little snippets of stuff, but it doesn’t ever seem to amount to anything. I guess I’m just not all that exciting!
I’ve started to ramp up my training a bit, and I even joined up with a small group of people for runs twice a week This group is put together by a local athletic club called Qi (pronounced “Chee”), and they run on Tuesday and Thursday mornings around a local park here in Denver called City Park. The best thing is that it’s free, and the next best thing is that they are mostly at my speed, which right now is slow. Not to say that they are slow, I think they just don’t want me to lag very far back and then lose interest.
Then on Saturday’s for my long runs, I run with a group from the local running store, Runners Roost. They are the greatest people and the best part is they have food and drinks for you afterwards! One time they even had someone there making pancakes. They were awesome. We run in Parker and Aurora, CO, and a lot of times we go into the Cherry Creek Park, which makes for some nice trail running, when it’s not too wet and muddy. After I ran with them yesterday, I needed to buy some shoes, and they found a pair that I usually run with, the Mizuno Wave Alchemy, that were “last seasons model”, and they gave them to me for half price! Perfect!. So of course I had to buy some socks and some gels because I felt guilty.
This past week I ran 32 miles, which is the longest I have run in a week since last year! I think my schedule has me running more this week, and then I go back down a bit for some recovery. I am definitely looking forward to that!
The Fun Has Begun
I ran 12 miles last Saturday and although it was nice and sunny, it was 7 degrees when I started out! But by the time I finished, it was around 20 degrees and I was sweating. Plus it had snowed the night before so the path was a bit difficult. I started out wanting to go 14, but with the snow on the ground, it required more effort to get thru it, so I figured at that point 12 was just as good as 14. If that makes any sence.
After my run, I stopped in to Runners Roost to buy some more socks. Mine are getting a little thin and in the cold weather, it does make a difference. But instead of getting socks, I ended up getting shoes! They had a great sale on end of model year shoes, so I got me a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS-7’s for only $55! I think I may go back again this weekend and see what else I can get.
My schedule this week isn’t too bad. My hope is that the weather cooperates. Monday I had to do 4 miles, and it was 4 degrees out, so I decided to do it on the treadmill. I don’t mind the treadmill on a run of 3 or 4 miles, but no more than that. It gets sooooo boring. On Tuesday I did a 7 mile loop by my apartment which went real well. I felt very good and actually wanted to go more! But I need to stick with my schedule and do what it tells me to do.
Thursday is my run with The Snug Runners and even though we only do a 3 mile run, I will be doing 6. I get there early, run 3 miles, come back to the bar, have a Guinness, then go running with group for another 3 miles! I’m thinking that maybe I should fill my water bottle with Guinness too.
This weekend I will be doing 14……unless the weather sucks. I also signed up at a new gym (they haven’t even opened yet, but they are only a mile from my apartment) so I’ll be back doing more weight training and core building exercises. Diane and I also went to yoga class last Sunday, so I’m going to be doing yoga now every Sunday. Only 16 weeks to go!
I was diagnosed with MS about 6 years ago and I am one of the lucky ones. I don't have too many problems associated with it, and the disease has actually slowed down. I took up running 4 years ago just to see if I could do it. So far I've run 4 marathons in 2 years and 12 half marathons.