Princeton Running Group at Fleet Feet

I know about a month ago I swore off running groups, but then I was reminded of the one that meets on Thursday nights in Princeton.

I am skeptical of the phrase "all paces are welcome," somehow more skeptical when the ALL is in caps and underlined three times, as if they are convincing themselves. Still, this Thursday Don had to work and the weather was nice, so I took a chance.

I showed up to a very large group of mostly college age people. Some identified as first-timers. Someone said it was his second time, so I peppered him with questions about logistics. Do they separate us by pace first? Do we start together? Where are the run sheets? How does this all work?

Now that I've done it once, I could answer the questions.

No, they don't separate by groups ahead of time.

Yes, people mostly started together, but the slowest people hung back and grouped ourselves.

The run sheets are inside behind the register. Longer answer: there are three routes: 3 miles, 5 miles, and 2 mile walking route.

It just happens.

~~~

The store leader gathered us to ask if anyone was doing a race that weekend. A couple answered the Jersey Girl Tri. He then told us to get together for a group photo. I shifted to the back, I did not want to be in the front. Though warmer than last week, this week's group was much larger, and included many first-timers like me.

I searched for Kurt (the father of one of Ashley's friends who had been going, and said he always ran with the slowest person so they didn't feel bad, turns out he is recovering from an injury and was not there). I found a couple of people closer to my age and asked their pace. They said they were aiming for a 13 minute mile. A little slower than I've been doing, but not by much.

Keith had already gone for a run that morning. He is fast. He will be pacing the 1:55 group at the Princeton Half Marathon (we determined that was under a 9 minute a mile pace, closer to 8:45). He was running with his dog (Ron?). He said he recently changed up his training to be by heartrate instead of by time or distance. He has noticed an increase in his speed since then.

His friend Bill was the one who said he was aiming for a 13 minute pace, because that's what he did last week. He is recovering from an injury. He said he is the reason they added the 2-mile walking distance so people could still socialize while recovering from injuries. Perhaps others are non-running spouses who want to be out for the socialization. In any case, ALL paces were truly welcome.

True to their word, they stayed near me. We ended up with a 12:40 pace. I needed a walk on a couple of those up hills, but at times so did Bill. We also had to pause when a tennis ball landed near the dog and Keith had to stop him from drooling on it. He passed it back to the kid hitting tennis balls against the wall.

The route was more complicated than the one in Philadelphia. We depended on the route sheets, even second guessed the sheets (which were correct), and formed a sort of four-sided figure (not exactly a rectangle or a square). With the longer route option, we were not the last. We even passed a couple of teenage girls walking the 3 mile route. They self-identified as "lazy tonight." I told them they are out here, so they are not lazy. With that they smiled and seemed to appreciate the encouragement.

Unlike the group in Philadelphia, this one does not go out to dinner together. Once finished, they disband, perhaps into small cliques, but I went home. 

I enjoyed myself so much, I only took the one picture of my running partners. I'm also familiar with Princeton, so I didn't feel like a tourist. 

My pace was the same in the two outings, or rather just a little faster in Princeton, then again it was a mile shorter. Less time to slow down. If had gone out for the five mile loop, chances are it would have been much slower. My legs were sore by the end -- a good sore.

Next time I'll bring my shoe lights since it will be dark by the time we finish.