On the Run: Braving the Group Run
This past Saturday morning, I did something that past Amanda would probably have considered near impossible. I woke up at 5am to have my Superhero muffins and coffee, layered up, stretched, tied up my shoes, and headed out the door to meet a local chapter of Trail Sisters for a morning run. At 7am. In the snow. On a Saturday. Since I started running, I've wanted to try running with a group. While I have a lovely virtual running community, sometimes I feel a bit lonely as the only runner in my IRL friend group (that I'm aware of). So, I spent most of last year finding and following local running groups on Facebook, but never quite plucking up the courage to join them for any of their runs. Sometimes because the distance was daunting, other times because the timing didn't work out, or didn't fit with my training schedule, but most often because I have social anxiety and entering unknown social situations scares the heck out of me. In addition to my social fears...