I was relieved to find out that our "beach run" in week two didn't involve running on actual sand. Instead, the crew met at Nike's Santa Monica store and ran down the pier and to a little park along the beach, where Blue challenged us to some speed drills on the pavement. (In this picture, I am trying to reinflate my lungs after completing one of three, mostly uphill, sprints.)
That weekend, I decided to eschew wine the night before my run and my dog decided to sleep through the night. Still, I figured I could use an extra bump of motivation and fired up one of the Nike Run Club app's 60-minute guided runs on Saturday morning. This one featured marathon star Eliud Kipchoge, who is a wealth of Zen-like wisdom and advice. (He's well known for flashing a wide smile even in the most grueling of races.)
While I only heeded Eliud's advice to smile once — and begrudgingly, at that — listening to him chat helped me focus and gave me extra confidence. I could do this! After an hour, I was certainly tired, but I didn't feel like I'd completely drained my batteries. And I was even more revived when I found that I'd run much faster than I had the week before: I'd clocked 6.1 miles — so close to a 10K! — and averaged a 9'50" mile. Progress!
