Long Saturday Run

I have a post that I'm working on that tells alot about me and what I'm experiencing right now...but that will have to wait, as I'm not yet comfortable enough to post it...Don't worry, it's not bad. Promise.

Today was week one's long run. We all met at 8am (I kinda wish it had been earlier) and prepared to run our 4 mile run. They told us the route we were running and we all just kind of looked around confused. I don't think anyone there had a good understanding of where we were going - including the leaders. So, we started out and I (and my sister) was running great. The temperature was perfect - all around great running weather. I felt great! My hip wasn't hurting me as it had been and I had 3 new songs on my shuffle. Now, there are three different groups running out there...the beginners (the group I'm in), the intermediate, and the advanced. From what I understood, we were all running different routes and we were the last group to get started this morning. So when I came upon mile 2 and saw runners coming from a different direction and running our same route, I was a little confused, but just shrugged it off. My sister was about 1/4 mile in front of me...there were plenty of beginning runners in front of me and about 4 or 5 way behind me. Well, I come to this hill and as I top it - I see NOBODY. In the distance, I can see two intermediate runners going a route that I didn't think or know for sure the beginners were suppose to take...I look back to see if somehow I can ask the leader and people behind me which way to go...and they're way too far behind me. So, I follow the two runners that I can see...Long story short - I ran half a mile too much.

When I made it to the finishing area, I asked my sister where she had ran and how long she had been waiting for me. She had only been waiting for about 5 maybe 10 minutes and she said that she ran the same route that I did...I asked one of the leaders if we were suppose to go the direction that I did...um, that's a big fat no... that's why I ran the extra 1/2 mile. I felt great the whole way through, just a little frazzled that it was so unorganized...But all in all, it was a great run.. and it only took me an hour to run 4.5 miles - not a sprinter by any means..but that means that I can definitely finish the half marathon in the 4 hours allotted time - which I had been worried about. :)