Strange Tidings

On Sunday I decided I needed to button down by buttoning up. That is, I needed to get out and do some training, but to do so I really needed to bundle up because it was cold and snowy!
I popped on my trail shoes to protect me from the ice, and wore my best winter running clothes I had.
When I got to the Running Room store to start the group run, I admit I was having a lot of clothes envy over all the runners bundled up in their sleek official winter running coats and all their special winter gear. But I steadied myself with the reminder that if I was a good girl and did the run, I would reward myself with a Running Room shopping spree afterwards!
My goal was to find a group going around 12-15k. That seemed easy enough.
Ha!
There were 4 groups leaving from the store: a walking group, an 8k group, an 18k group, and a 26k group. After some debate I joined up with the 18k group, because they promised we would be slow.
Slow is something I know I can do, after all.
Off we set into the sleet and wind.
The Running Room groups here do something I've rarely (if ever) done on a long slow run before. They went slow. As in, slow even for me!
They followed the format of doing 10min run : 1min walk. And it was one of those rare groups that - if someone started to pick up the pace - actually encouraged and reminded them the need to slow down! How crazy is that?!
It was refreshing! And not just because of the snow on the ground.
Off we plundered, and I forgot about the speed, the distance, and - yes, even the cold! I forgot simply because I was having fun. I chattered incessantly to anyone who would listen. When one person dropped off the conversation (quite possibly to get away from me) I started chattering to the next person. What a great time!
There were a few sections of slushy snow that we cautiously picked out way through, but for the most part the ground was ice-free, which was fantastic.
Before I knew it, 15k had gone.
After 15k, I felt every single step. I began to really look forward to the 1min walk breaks. Although I admit I was confused as to when exactly we took them, and it took me just over two hours to realize that 10+1 does NOT equal 10. That is, it was going to be a minute later on my watch every time. Oops!
And it turns out that the one thing the group wasn't so good at was planning distances appropriately. That 18k? Turned into a 19.5k instead! Yikes! From wanting to go on a gentle 90minute run to a 140minute run! That's a lot of extra I did.
But afterwards I felt great. Better than expected! As in, I felt the same as I usually do after a 20k run or so - no better, but certainly no worse. And I wasn't even the slowest of them all, which also surprised me! Normally I am back-of-the-pack-struggling-to-keep-the-others-in-sight. This time I was the front of the main group. And I was even reminded on a couple of occasions that I needed to slow down! How...strange.
I did lots and lots of stretching afterwards. Then I snapped out my credit card and did some shopping! No more running gear envy for me...