It's official when you have a card!
When my license arrived and I had it in my hand, I actually felt quite proud! It's been a while since I've studied something new or worked towards a qualification, so this felt like a 'I did it!' type of moment. The whole LinguaRun concept started off as a bit of a crazy 'what if' type thought, but the more I thought about it the more convinced I was that it was something that I wanted to do.
What's happened so far
Since setting up and leading my first session, I have had lots of conversations with people about running, fitness, getting out in the winter and plenty of people have said that they 'don't know where I get my energy from!' Sometimes, I'm not sure either but I do know that leading this group ensures that I do one more run every week, as I never used to go out on a Tuesday night. In short, being a RunTogether leader has pushed me to work harder too! I've already met lots of new people and enjoyed the conversations as we have worked our way around Consett on dark, cold, wet and icy evenings. It's great to find out why people are running and I love to chat!
What's next?
Lots of people like to feel like they are making progress when they are running, but everyone measures things in different ways. It might be how out of breath you are (and seeing how this improves on the 3rd, 5th or 10th run); how fast you are; how stiff you feel the next day. For lots of people it's about increasing the distance. With this in mind, I have set up a run called the 'CasaLingua Longer Loop' and this will take place instead of the 5k session on the last Tuesday of every month, starting in February. We will aim to run 7K and runners who are comfortable at 5k (and want to push on) should feel that it's a challenge but not out of reach. It might be a good stepping stone for anyone wanting to try for a 10K in the summer.
Can you help spread the word?
I hope that all of the sessions will continue to be well attended and I'll be thinking of ways to further promote the group this month and next. If anyone is able to help promoting the group or has any helpful contacts, please get in touch!