What keeps me coming back to Team in Training

I’m finally back in the swing of things and have a routine that seems to be working for me. Lucky for me, I’m not training alone. The best thing about TNT is the team. Since I went back to the running team four weeks ago, I have consistently been the slowest of the full marathon group. I share “back of the pack” status with a couple of the new halfers, but when they turn back and the rest of us keep going, I become the only slow poke in the pack. So does that mean I run half the route by myself?  Hell no! There is always someone with me, whether it be a fellow alumni/TNT mentor or a coach. This Saturday, three people took turns running with me. Each of them asked me how my training was going, and helped me fight my negative self-talk.

And what do you suppose happened when I finally arrived at the centre with my coach? We were greeted by cheers and high-fives from our teammates, who were on the lawn stretching/resting/talking. On the way to the locker room, I was reminded of my progress by another alumna. She and I were on the walk team together, and at a GTS on May 3rd, she had planned to add a few run intervals, so I ran them with her. She reminded me on Saturday that I had been unsure at the time whether or not I’d be able to run/walk the whole event—let alone run it. I can always rely on my teammates for a dose of perspective.

I think the main thing that keeps me coming back to TNT is the feeling of belonging to a team. We are a team who were brought together by the way cancer has affected our lives. We share a need to push ourselves to achieve goals that require us to test the limits of our physical abilities. We also help each other find creative ways of raising funds to fight our common foe. We share our stories, our fears, our motivations, our hopes, and our trade secrets. When I run the marathon in September, there will be people in purple cheering me on, and people in green helping me through the difficult bits.

When I ran the half two years ago, three coaches helped me out: Brian calmed me down and gave me a banana when I felt like I was dying; JS accompanied me up Berri Street (the hill near the end); and Cathlyn took me the rest of the way to the corral before the finish line.

Fun with images

In case you missed my innumerable posts about Team in Training on Facebook, I made a bunch of handy visual aids to express how I feel about TNT and to draw attention to my fundraising campaign.  Here are a few examples for your entertainment.

Heroes of the Week

I’ve also made a series of images about my “Heroes of the Week”. Every time I receive a donation from an individual, I stencil their name on a ribbon, which I wear on the following Saturday morning to my group training session (GTS) with Team in Training. I also take a picture of the shirt and post it on Facebook. Here are a few images I made on the subject.

Should you care to join me in this adventure, there are still a few places left for the Montreal Marathon, as well as a few other choice events. Just contact the TNT office at 1-855-331-5318 or visit their website.