I signed up to do the Boulder Cty tunnel half marathon run, it's one week from this Saturday. I have not trained hard enough for this run, but I figured I'd give it a shot anyway? My running partner, Liz, unfortunately is having horrible knee problems and may have to back out of the race. I'm sick over this. She is my second partner to get hurt, and I'm starting to think I'm bad luck! Anyway, I needed to run yesterday, and I didn't want to do the treadmill or go alone outside, so I decided I would try the Red Rock Running store's "NO WHINING WEDNESDAY NIGHT GROUP RUN". I had seen this advertised on their web site. Here is what it says on their own web site...
NO WHINING WEDNESDAYS! is the new name for our weekly group run. This run is FREE to all. All that want to run hard as hell that is! This run is not your feel good, have a nice chat with another runner run, but a kick butt tempo run of 6-8 miles!
Here's the deal:
Runs starts at 5:30pm.
Runs are tempo style - hard efforts! You must be willing to run a workout! You are not expected to be a fast runner, elite or stellar runner, just a runner who is not afraid of a hard workout and getting some results.
We will run a brief warm up together to the basin loop and then we will get it going on!
We run no matter what! NO MATTER WHAT!
Heat of 110 degrees- We run.
It's cold - We run.
Rain - You won't melt. We run.
Wind - come on. We run.
In fact, if you look at the weather to decide if you should run then don't come.
We have a few basic rules:
Be on time Don't be late we don't really have a give 'em 5 minute rule!
Finish by the time the store closes. 7PM.
And please... NO WHINING!
So, I'm thinking, GREAT, this is EXACTLY what I need to prepare for my race. I've always wanted to run with a group of "hard core" runners to see if I could keep up.
After weeks of debating, last night I drove ALL THE WAY ACROSS TOWN to join the group for a the run.
I got there and immediately felt out of place. There were two high school girls working that were nice, but had the whole "I'd rather be on face book right now" attitude. Then the runners showed up. There were about 4 women and 3 men. One of the young girls said she would be leading the run, but that she was injured? I thought, then why are you running? But, whatever? So, we go outside and she says, "OK we're running down Cheyenne, left on tenaya, and around the water basin, if you need to come back to the store, it's a mile away." With NO stretching, we were off. I stayed behing the 2 men and the "leader" girl. They were running a fast pace, and I was praying I'd be able to keep the pace for the whole 6-8 miles. SO, at mile 2, I'm right behind the "leader" girl, and she goes off course a little, then she turns to me and says, "I'm heading back". I'm thinking...seriously, we're only at MILE 2??? So, now, the 2 men had a good lead ahead of me and the 4 women were no where in sight, but I drove all the way across town, so I wasn't going to stop. I had to book it to catch up with the men, and at mile 3, one of the men headed back. UNBELIEVABLE?
So now, here I am running ALONE, IN THE DARK, WITH A STRANGER??? Where the heck is the "GROUP RUN" they were talking about. The guy didn't say much, but he seemed normal and nice, so I stuck with him the rest of the time. He was running a 7:45 pace, so it was a challenge for me, and then he headed back to the store at mile 5. I followed, because I knew we were the last ones out, and I didn't want to run alone. When we got back to the store, no one said ANYTHING to me. No, "sorry about the run being shorter than we advertised", no "sorry you were left to run alone in the dark with a stranger"??
I mean, they make it sound like if you show up, you'll get your butt kicked, and you'll get to run with a group. This was a JOKE!!!! The leader only making it 2 miles?? Give me a break. My Grandma could run harder!!
I can't believe I wasted time worrying about being able to keep up, and even worse, I wasted gas money and valuable time. Shame on Red Rock Running store...that was AWFUL!!!
Any of you that know me, know that I don't have a problem voicing my frustrations. :) So, PLEASE BELIEVE that I'll be emailing the owners!!
6 comments:
Yeah, after reading what they posted on their website, I'd be pissed too!! I would definitely write them a hate email. I'm getting ready to do my own with Tony Marnell!! I'm sure that store saw this hot little thing walk in and thought, 'oh, this won't be a problem. She won't be able to keep up.' Too bad you kicked their butt. Maybe you should offer to lead this so called group they have going on??
So, sorry Jessi! At least you know not to go there anymore:) Good luck on your race!!
How disappointing!! That just stinks! I think you should email them and tell they are lame and should change the website to "sissy runners!" :)
I agree with all the girls here! Give em' a piece of your mind! Jessi style!!!
Okay, ummm.... First, as a non-runner (or total lightweight when it comes to running), I give you mad props for trying it out after reading their advertisement online. That alone would scare me. Second, I just think it's awesome you can do 5 miles & still be ready to do more. You're about500 times more fit than me. So I'm impressed. But go ahead & let them know they're lame, 'cause that's not at all what they advertised...you rock.
We've almost done that run but I'm totally not thaT hard core!! You should do the "come run in the sun 10k" in may...Not sure if I'm going to do it but it's in my 'hood and looks like a lot of fun!
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