10-mile Saturday

I got up this morning at 6:15, had a little bowl of cereal, and got my running clothes on, in order to meet up with the Santa Clarita Runners for the first time.  Saturdays are their 10 mile runs.  People can run however long they want.  I was determined to do the full 10.  I get there and all I see is men.  Being that I am not outgoing I slowly get out of the car, hoping that someone will introduce themselves to me so I do have to go make the first move.  Luckily a nice man introduced himself and then brought me over to the few women that were there.  So here's what I learned today.....I have a long way to go before I am really ready to go running comfortably with a group.  I started off with the women.  Two of them went on ahead, faster than the remaining three of us.  I learned that one of the women had just come back from Florida where she ran the Disney marathon last weekend.   Not only did she run the marathon on Sunday, but she also ran the half marathon on Saturday before that.  All of the runners seemed pretty hard core and have been running a lot longer than I.  Anyway, I stayed with the two other women for as long as I could, but even they were too fast for me.  But, I stuck with it and while they told me they were stopping at 8 miles, I told them I was going to try for the whole 10.  And I did it!  I might have been the last one to come back....yes, I definitely was the last one, but it felt good to finish and that is now my longest run ever.  So, will I go again next Saturday?  I'm not sure yet, but I think I probably will.  How else will I get to know this group and truly decide whether it's for me or not.  I can't give up after one time.  Besides, it gives me the incentive to run a little faster and get up and just do it rather than turning my alarm off and going back to sleep!