Our First Fall Friday!

The following post was written by Christy Simard. Christy started running with Running Moms back in March. I've written a couple times about how Christy was my "not a runner," but now she is more than just a runner, she's a run LEADER. 

I didn't realize how seriously she took her new responsibility (I've been run leading for quite awhile and I seem to have forgotten how nerve-wracking being a new run leader can be!) until I read this post. Truthfully, I've just been so confident in Christy's ability to be an inspiring and motivating leader that it never for once crossed my mind that anything would go wrong. 

Simply put, Christy is the dictionary definition of what a run leader should be. I'm so excited for her and for the women who will soon be looking to her for guidance. Match made in heaven.

Let me start by giving you a bit of background... When Sara asked me to help out with Running Moms, I was so excited to help, and then the reality of it kicked in! I was scared, nervous and teetering somewhere close to regret.  

Let me explain. For those of you have not had the honour of running with “The Running Mom”, she has this amazing ability to push you without you knowing it. She is able to tell you stories that under other circumstances really wouldn’t be relevant. She has this welcoming aura around her that people can’t help but be drawn in by. She makes a 20km run seem like 15; she believes in you and makes you believe in yourself... So as you can see, I was feeling a wee bit inadequate. 

Now a couple of weeks have passed since then, and our first Friday run was quickly approaching, so again the reality hit me. I need to decide on a route to run; oh right, I need to plan. A few seconds of hyper ventilating... I finally decided on a route while we were running this week with the group. I wanted to pick the right route, one that would be a good run, but also not too much as we have a long run coming on Sunday. It was a tough thing for me to decide so I even planned a shorter route if we needed it. 

So today arrives... My day started with the filter in my coffee pot folding over and depositing grinds in my nectar!! Not a good start to any day. Second, it was raining. Dread sunk in, I had had it all figured out.  NO ONE was going to come. So with this feeling of butterflies in my gut, I packed my daughter into the van and we headed to the store. I found a parking spot (success). We got into the store and waited. 

Those were probably the hardest 15 minutes I have experienced in a long time. Around the corner Cristal and the girls roll. A few minutes later Ferrin and her daughter arrive! Yahoo, I will not be running alone!

We ran a similar start route to Wednesday, but ran back along Dallas road Dog Park... Everyone was feeling good, so we sped past Cook St. (our shortened route), and headed for Moss. It had started to rain a bit harder by now, but we were already on our way back. Some small hills, and a few crosswalks, we were heading back to the store. 

Once back, I broke out my secret weapon... homemade carrot cupcakes! A great reward for a wonderful run with great company! 

Thank you, Cristal and Ferrin for making it so easy for me.