Week 3: 38 Minutes and a Promise of Popsicles

"It will be so much easier if we run into the wind first – REALLY."

Jen, Michelle and our guest team leader – the I-aspire-to-be-her Sue Barnes – assured us of this fact as they led us on a 38-minute "intervals are great" run Thursday, with Fred and canine companion Dylan keeping us safe.

And, thanks to that wise choice – run into the wind first, with it to our backs on the way home – we were all smiling at the end.

OK, so it did have something to do with the popsicles, standard Kroger brand, but oh-so-good despite the 57 degree temperatures in the parking lot at 7:30 p.m. Frozen orange sugar never tasted so good.

Lynn, Angela, Katherine, Bryan, Dave and our new team member, Mitzie, were all smiling too.

And Dawn, who last week jokingly told my video camera she needed "a lung transplant," said she felt good, too, after our 1-and-1 run west on Walton, south on Old Perch, and back.

"How are you feeling?" I was asked by Jen and Michelle, alternatively, during the 2.5-mile exercise.

Despite aching joints (I really need to NOT sit in front of a computer 10 or 12 hours on the day of a run), the answer to that, two weeks into the Couch to 5K training program, was surprisingly "OK."

It might have had something to do with the picture I kept in my head all week, of seeing a 71-year-old Brighton resident cross the 5K finish line at Kensington Metropark last Saturday at the Patch-sponsored . If a 71-year-old woman can run a 5K at a pace I ran at age 30, or a 15-year-old boy can run the last two miles without his shoe (true story!) what's a measly 38 minutes, right?

It might have helped that again, I completed three of the four homework days (Tuesday has proven my challenge: It's cross-training day and I've missed it two weeks in a row now). Or that I took two ibuprofen before I left.

Or that, again, this group dynamic is keeping me going when I look around and see others, like me, just putting one foot in front of the other for the sake of a goal.

Barnes, the organizer and leader of the , was a welcome addition to our group this week, with her smiles and encouragement. She's the person we all want to be (at least me): She ran a half-marathon last week, and is tackling the grueling Pinckney Trail half-marathon this weekend. Despite her obvious accomplishments, she ran along with Group 7 as if she were one of us.

Other news tidbits:

• Mitzie joined us this week; a few others left to run with other groups, but most of the group returned. It's helping me to remember names!
• Fred has U-M earmuffs. Boo. 
• Many of the team leaders run Saturday mornings and have extended an open invitation for us to join. Maybe in a week or two!
• We got T-shirts. Bright, neon green – you simply cannot miss our blob of trainers now, bobbing down Livernois or Walton on Thursday evenings.

This week's homework is similar to last week – 30 minutes of brisk walking or run/walk intervals on Saturday, Sunday and Monday; crosstrain 35-40 minutes Tuesday. Friday and Wednesday off.

My goals this week:

• Don't skip cross-training this week! Make the time.
• Eat healthier, and don't eat late at night.
• Don't exercise after a 12-hour work day; do it early.

Anybody else? What are your goals, teammates? Any suggestions for us, Patch readers?