The journey begins...

On Saturday (August 12) we had our first official TnT training session. It was a sort of combined meet in Bloomington - including people from Peoria, Bloomington, Springfield, and Champaign. It was nice to meet some of my fellow central Illinois TnTers.

There were lots of different goals - there are walkers, runners, run-walkers, walk-runners, marathoners, half-marathoners... you name it. Everyone has a different story. We did a 35-minute run (or walk, depending on your goals). I got to running with 2 other women who were running a bit faster than was comfortable for me, but I somehow managed to keep up. I was pretty winded by the end! Needless to say, I won't be running my 16-milers that fast!

Next weekend is the first training session in Peoria, so I'll most likely meet a whole new set of TnTers. Should be fun!

In preparation for all this training, and for having to drive somewhere in order to run, I've gotten myself a few new accessories... a pretty new gym bag to hold all my "gear". Okay, so the only "gear" I have is a towel, a change of clothes, and running shoes... but calling it "gear" makes it seem cooler. I also got The Stick on the advice of my marathon-running friend. It truly is a fabulous little gadget. I will keep it in my gym bag at all times - it definitely qualifies as "gear".

According to our training schedule, we are supposed to run 4 times a week, which is more than I'm used to (I have been doing 3 times a week). So I guess I better start adding in that 4th day of running. They gave us some nifty treadmill workouts and the training plan includes Tempo runs, Fartleks, Strides, and cross-training. Oh, and 2 days of rest per week. Woo hoo!

Stay tuned for more updates....