Running in the Rain

Last November, I joined a ‘Couch to 5k’ running club.  I’ve never really been a runner, but I thought I’d give it a shot.

Our instructor started our group off with a 6-week program, but then modified it to 12 weeks after sizing us up during the first class.  We met every Thursday but had homework to run at least 2-3 more times during the week on our own. 

November has got to be the worst time of year to start a running regime.  There’s the cold, rainy weather discouraging anyone without a treadmill at home.  Plus the holiday feasts of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and of course all that travel…

So I failed my homework.

In February, to motivate myself to get back into a running routine, I signed up for the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge, a 5k charity run that JP Morgan organizes all over the world.  They hold the annual race everywhere from London to Boston, Shanghai to San Francisco.  This year, there were 595 London companies that signed up a total of 26,000 entrants.  So JP Morgan split the London event into two separate race days.

The Dell London team consisted of 20 racers, including a team captain.  On our race day, there were 13,000 people running in Battersea Park.  We obviously all couldn’t start at once, so when we signed up, we gave an estimated finish time and were split into different groups based on that time. 

The race was actually a 5.6k, not a 5k, so I put down a time of 40 minutes and was placed in the Yellow group (the slowest one).  One of the other women in my ‘Couch to 5k’ running club signed up, also.  But Julie is a superstar, stuck with her homework, and now runs an average of 4 miles 3 times a week, at a much faster pace than me.  So she was on the Green team.  But I found a bunch of other people from Dell at my level and we started off together.  The great thing about the challenge is you get to meet new people within your corporation from other departments that you wouldn’t normally interact with. 

Thursday morning started off bright and beautiful.  But of course when it came time to head to the park, it started pouring!  And it didn’t stop.  (On a quick side note, this has to be the WORST summer in England EVER!  We had ONE good weekend when we took Kirby to the pub, but I jinxed us by writing in the blog, ‘Summer has finally arrived!’  So Summer packed up her bags and left… and that makes me very, very sad.)

That isn’t sweat covering the winner – it’s rainwater!

I toughed it out with the Brits, though.  My group, the Yellows, were the last to take off.  The Blues (serious competitors) started first, then the Reds, the Greens, and finally we were up!  By the time we started the race, the Blues had already finished!  We stood around getting soaked in the downpour for over 20 minutes.  The gloomy weather made the temperature plummet, too.  I could actually see my breath!  That kind of cold in July is not okay.

And the Red Team is off!  Only one more group to go...

Once we actually started, our little Dell Yellow group split up.  Some sped up, others started to walk, but my goal was not to walk any of it.  A 5k may not be hard for most people, but as Billy Madison would say, “It was tough for me – so back off!” 

In the past, my problem was endurance. Before Thursday, I'd only run a full 5k once a couple of weeks ago. Since this was a bit longer, I took my friend Joey’s advice and instead of walking, slowed down to the slowest jog possible when I needed to. 

We were all forced to slow down in some places.  Between weaving through the huge crowd, and the rain, we also had to make it through really slippery, muddy grass where the track ran out.  So once again, I was trudging through the mud for a charity event.  But these places gave us a good chance to slow down a bit (but not walk!) and catch our breath.

Jogging through the mud

And I had cheerleaders to keep me motivated!  David, Jeff, and our friend Jordan all came out to support me!  It meant a lot, considering they were standing in the cold rain for over an hour carefully scanning the crowd of thousands, trying not to miss me.  Thanks guys!

I found David along the Thames!

I also found a running buddy in James, who works on the Dell Services team and also recently joined a ‘Couch to 5k’ club.  

James and me near Chelsea Bridge

We kept each other motivated and finished together with a time of 41:10. So not quite the 40 minutes I was hoping for, but I'm blaming the weather!

Our photo finish!  Yahoo for the race!  Yahoo for me!