My Coaching Kickoff!

Potomac River Running's Winter Training Program kicked off this week, and I made my coaching debut. I have been nicknamed "Glinda the Good Witch" and I'm going to "run" with that moniker.

You've always had the power, my dear.
You just had to learn it for yourself.

We held a "Gear Up" party on Wednesday night to introduce the program and get folks up to speed. It was educational and fun, with sessions on nutrition, shoes, foam rolling, and a fashion show on winter running gear. There were some nice raffles at the end of the night and I was pleased to see several of my friends win cool prizes.

Today (Saturday) we held our first run. There are three programs currently meeting on Saturday mornings - marathon, half marathon/ten-mile, and 5k/10k. I'm helping Coach Jodi out with 5k/10k until the Cherry Blossom program begins on January 31. I arrived early and helped set up the water cooler and greet some of the early arrivals. The store filled up quickly with eager runners and there was lots of catching up as folks made some last minute gear and nutrition purchases. Coach Meghan gave an overview of the program and shared key information before we headed out for an informal run.

Coach Sarah introduces herself
(can you spot Coach Mike's disembodied head in the Tifosi mirror?)

Panoramic shot of the whole crew prior to the run
photo courtesy of Laurentina Photography

The distance runners ran between 2 and 8 miles, while the 5k/10k runners ran for 40 minutes. I ran with the mid-level 5k/10k group and we ran 2:1 run:walk intervals, covering 3 miles in 40 minutes. Afterwards we congregated at the coolers, answering questions, planning for tomorrow's "Run With Santa 5k," and generally joking around. Laura made some great photo collages to capture the fun:

photo collage courtesy of Laurentina Photography

photo courtesy of Laurentina Photography

photo collage courtesy of Laurentina Photography

I can already tell it is going to be another fun training season!