Running with CARA!

A couple of weeks ago I've started the training with CARA (Chicago Area Runners Association).

When I volunteered to raise money for PAWS animal shelter, they offered me, among other things, 18 weeks before the Big Day, to run with experienced runners, trainers; to meet nutritionists, chiropractors, fitness instructors, etc.

If I look back a year ago, I didn't know exactly what all these new terms for me means. I thought: "How simple it is to run. Everybody knows how to run. I will run for a year, every day, more and more and in the end I'll be capable to finish the Marathon." Well, I've learned in this year past that this is a good recipe for getting injured. Seeing a chiropractor for bone alignment, talking with a nutritionist or trainer face-to-face makes a big difference.

Somebody told me once that when you know little about something, you think that you know everything; when you start to learn more about it, you realize that you know so little about it. Same here!

Now, after one year and a half of running, reading about it, meeting runners, I would like to think that I know something about this sport. Not much, but enough to stay out of injuries, eat better, stretch and worm up before a run, do crosstraining, dress well, be focused and more.

Running together with CARA every Saturday morning makes me understand better how it is to run in group pace. The chill air in the morning, the smell of the woods, the people gathering for the same reason makes my day! If I have something to ask, there is a pace leader, happy to help. He's the one who cheers up the group, keeping the pace up or slowing it down when necessary; stopping for hydration; guiding us first of all to have fun running!

"Two more days 'till Saturday. I can't wait to meet my friends again." I'm in the fourth week of training (out of 18). Wish me luck and I hope to see you there Saturday morning 6:45 am in Libertyville in the woods!