So during the week I was able to sneak in a few little 2.25 mile runs around the neighborhood. Mainly just to see if I was able to finish 2.25 miles. The only thing to get me through the runs? LIES. Pure. Blatant. LIES!!! “You can stop at the next stop sign.” “You just need to run for 30 more seconds, then you can walk.” “You’re doing great!! (LOL)”. As long as I kept telling myself these things, I was able to push through and not walk. (As I sit here now, saying not walking on 2.25 miles, I feel horrible, considering the amount of miles that I used to do! This is the trap, to start too quickly. You have to work yourself in to it.). Anyway, the second of the two runs felt quite nice and I logged a little faster than 8 minute miles. Hey! Don’t judge! I weigh 205 pounds and haven’t run in about 3 months. 🙂
    So with these two whopping runs under my belt, I decided to announce that we would start to do group runs and rides from the shop. Once it was said, well, there was no going back. A lot of people expressed interest so I was expecting a decent group on Saturday at 8am for the first run. I had multiple distances mapped out, including a new 2 mile loop that brought you right back to the shop. At about 7:45 I started doing some warmups in the field next to the shop. “They’ll be here any second.” I kept telling myself but the clock struck 8, and there I stood….. alone. No worries. I wanted to try out the 2 mile loop anyway. Right from the shop… Right on to Seymour… Right on to Riverview… Right on to Lincoln… Right on St Michaels road right back to the shop. Awesome! 2.03 miles and darn close to a 7:33 min/mile pace the whole time!! Great! Each week I plan on running at 8 am. I’m sure the people will come….it’s just a matter of getting it out there. Facebook, website, Twitter… I’m game. Hell, I’m even thinking of getting a custom 3×5 flag made and RUNNING through town a few times to promote it.
      So with a lonely run in the books, the promotion for the Sunday right seemed bleak. Fortunately, I have a sadistic friend that it is trying to do a MapMyRide challenge so he was game. At 7:30 am on Sunday, we (he and I) met with a young 14 year old that was visiting for the weekend. This young man had just finished his first tri and had lots of questions, so we all three talked and rode from the shop to Tilghman and back (about 32 miles) in about 2 hours. Good times, good ride, hot and humid. I can tell you this, being on a mountain bike seat at work is VERY different from a hard road saddle. My butt was hurting by the end of the ride, but we finished and it felt great. Each week we’ll tack a little more mileage and a little more speed on.

     PROLOGUE
    So why am I doing all this? I explained last time about some medical issues that I wanted to take care of but the bug has taken a hold already. I’m going to make a choice in the next week, Beach to Battleship half-ironman in late October or the ChesapeakeMan festival in Cambridge in late September…… we’ll see which one the fates allow (and my lovely wife and kids, Laura, Ben and Natalie).

     Be safe out there!!!