Running in a hurd

When I finished my last/first marathon I said I would change how I trained not only my plan but to also join a running group. I learned so many valuable tips while riding in a group. Although it sucked at times while I was getting my ass handed to me - I really didn't seem so bad because someone was keeping you entertained. Well, that's what I hope would happen if I was to join a running group. What I'm having a hard time getting over is the part you have to pay to be part of a running group. I never have to pay to be part of a riding group - only if I want to be on a team.

Today I met my friend at the Calhoun Beach Club - a high end gym which is so high end the gym (posh everything including TVs on every machine) was completely empty at 8:30 on a Saturday morning. What's up with that? If you walked into any of the gyms I go to - after you battled for a parking spot - you'd wonder if the whole city was in that one location.

Anyways, so I met my friend at the Calhoun Beach Club to go run with her and her running group. I wanted to see if they would be the best fit for me and my goals. From what she told me it sounded like an elate group of runners who have a number of people that complete the Boston Marathon and there would be a group running the St. Louis Marathon (the one I'm doing). BUT, we didn't run with them. We ran with a couple of her friends at a slower pace - which was fine with me but I would've like to see what the real group was like. Overall, I had a good time and we completed 7 miles while they (not me -I couldn't breathe) chatted the entire time.

I've ran around the lakes in the Uptown area before but have never noticed how trendy it is to run the lakes on a Saturday morning. If your a runner and have never ran the lakes on a Saturday morning - your missing out! Or better yet, if your single and you've never taken up running start and go run around the lakes.

I have a feeling with my already packed schedule I might be out of luck on running groups (there is one other group I would like to check out). Most running groups do their long runs on Saturday morning - I would like to go to Johnny J's 4-hour toucher session on the bike and run on Sunday's. I have an alt plan to run with another friend who has done an Ironman and has been researching the best forms of running. I have a feeling he might bet frustrated on my speed-walking pace.

I just need entertainment - running by myself is boring!