West Coast Road Runners & the Lure of a Free T-Shirt

Saturday, January 17th
Sign-ups and Orientation for the West Coast Road Runners (WCRR)

7:15 a.m.= Met my good friend, Mitchell, at the Park & Ride in Escondido.
  • Why? So we could drive to San Diego to attend the orientation meeting for the West Coast Road Runners' spring training session.

Mitchell has run eight marathons... he's not only my buddy, he's my inspiration. We've been friends for almost twenty years. I used to date his twin brother. He is like a big brother to me and a partner in crime. Mitchell has trained with West Coast Road Runners (WCRR) for a few years and he recommended them highly when I told him I wanted to train to run a marathon.

WCRR trains runners of all levels (from beginners to those who know what they are doing). I qualify as a beginner, of course. WCRR puts their runners into pace-groups, ranging from fast runners to the slower runners/walkers. Naturally, I am in the slow runner group. And I'm fine with that... I'm certain this has to be the fun group!

While there, I decided to go ahead and sign up for the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon. What I haven't mentioned is that I initially planned on running a half-marathon... not a full marathon. On Mitchell's encouragement, I decided to bite the bullet and sign up for the full 26.2 miles!

I love music, love San Diego, and figure that if I can run 13 miles, I can run 26... so it just seemed to make sense-- scary, crazy, what-the-heck-am-I-doing sense. Plus, they were offering a free T-Shirt for those who signed up that day. I'm a sucker for a free T-shirt.

I have to say... it is a cute shirt!


There's my cute T-Shirt.

That hot blond next to me is my friend Susan. She's going to run with us! She's in the slow-poke group with me. I'm so happy she is going to share this experience with me!



That's me... I had just signed up to join WCRR. It was a beautiful morning! Cool enough for long sleeves & warm enough for shorts. Gotta love San Diego!

"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'"
- Peter Maher, Canadian marathon runner

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