Marathon #2: It's official

This morning was my first group run with Team in Training, and it was great to get back to running in the park. This morning's workout was only about 5 miles, but I kept a good pace and met my coach and training group, which consists mainly of women (go ladies!). A couple of them have run marathons before, a couple of those who have already run a marathon have already run one with Team in Training, and there are also a couple who are just runners and haven't yet done a marathon despite the fact that they run pretty frequently. This information might make it sound like I actually talked to a number of people. Really, I didn't talk to anyone other than my coach, I just overheard other people's conversations. You get pretty good at eavesdropping after a certain point, especially when you are sort of a wall-flower.

It was extremely cold this morning (and it is probably still extremely cold, come to think of it). I managed to avoid the post-marathon blue lips of death, and I was fine while I was running, but it was pretty painful to be outside while not moving at a good clip. The subway was also a little wonky, so getting to the meeting site was an adventure. A trip from 116th to 72nd (this should take fifteen minutes, tops) took about 45 and we even had a Seinfeldian moment of the train stopping and the lights going off. I <3 New York.

So I have taken precautions against the cold, or at least taken steps toward taking precautions, by buying myself some new gloves, a hat, and an ear band (for less cold days) that I can wear while running. My bank account is mightily sad, but I think my body will probably be happy.