Rebel Run

That was a maze of a route. That was also my first ever group run!

Road Rebels. No, not the Alliance.

At the pool we met a few people that knew each other from some kind of sooper-seekrit running group that we couldn't figure out how to join them. There are no 'running stores' in Brantford so this was a close-knit group of people that train together and if you didn't know the secret handshake then you cannot join in. Well that's what I thought anyways. After picking the brain of the resident pool Ironman I got the necessary info and tracked down the organizer of the Road Rebels to see if we could tag along.

Mrs. LoTC decided to skip the workout in favour of going to the movies with her friends. Priorities. She's doing it wrong! :)  Anyhow I thought it would be a good idea to join the group by myself and make sure my wife could handle the pace/distance since I had no idea what they had planned.

Upon arrival, everyone was very friendly and I could tell right away personality wise we would fit in just fine. From experience on the cyling side, I've been to ALOT of cycling clubs ranging from Race Teams that deliberately try to drop the new people, to immature childish groups that fool around rather than work out, to the bike snobs that are too good for you. Since I have no running experience it was pertinent to meet these people before paying to join. Oh yes, there is some kind of pricey fee to join the group instead of just a secret handshake. So, the initial taste test passes. Everyone was fun and friendly and the organizer was full of information, I like the enthusiasm.

6KM. OK, well that is half of what I had planned but it would do. The pace, immediately very slow. Actually it worked out well since got to chat with people and have some fun. Not a problem, again this was taste testing not training crunch time. The group started breaking up into the different paces, great except I lost sight of the guy out front because there are a ton of turns. It was like a maze of back streets. I'm not used to that, I only train on country roads where I can run non-stop in a straight line and zone out. This was constants turn turn turn cross cross a street. Different. So I just ran with the girls up front. It was fun, except I kept getting 'the gurl smell'. You know like when a pretty woman walks by and you get that perfume-ish girl scent that catches your attention. Distracting. Guys know what I'm talking about. It wasn't a big deal but it was definitely not something expect. My first group run and all.

I had a good time. Too short by afair margin and even the guy out front didn't go my pace. Thats not to say there isn't someone that is more my pace that will show time to time. I guess my concern right now is that I dont understand their routes so for me to run out front means getting lost. I'm at the mercy of the quickest runner there. This might not be for me. Although I could augment the run by running from home to and from the starting point which should give me an extra 5Km-ish which is acceptable. I was more excited that we finally found a group that Fran can really fit in. There are people at her pace, our age and lots of woman. She'll love it!

So later this week I'll bring Fran out to give the group a try. I guess my biggest concern is the hefty club fee. I think the website says ummm $120ea which for Fran might be worth it but for myself it might not be a good fit. I'd rather we both join. I'll worry about that after the wife gets to taste test.

I'm stoked to find like-minded people, I hope it works out. We dont know anyone in this city and we've been here a few years. Oh and just today we found our neighbour is selling his house. They've been great, keep to themselves and quiet. I hope the replacements are just as good. I told Mrs. LoTC that if we get bad neighbours I won't hesitate to sell our pile of bricks. We've had really bad neighbours everywhere we have lived except when we moved here a few years ago. I figure we could peek out the window to see who's at the open house and scare off the ones that look iffy by running around naked on the front lawn or something. I just got to get Fran on board with this idea.

TRAINING:

Run - 0:35hrs Super slow fun group run