Since Colorado Springs has finally warmed up enough for my liking, I am bravely abandoning my trusty treadmill this week and venturing outside to prepare for the Triple Crown of Running races.  Of course, I use the term "races" very loosely since my general goal is to keep a pace that doesn't make me breathe too hard or sweat too much.  In essence, I am too comfortable to be accurately "racing," but it sounds good anyhow to non-running strangers that don't know the difference. Of course, in order to even pretend you are racing, you must have others actually running with you. As such, I typically have a few other partners that keep me moving and faithfully share in my joy/misery.

     The first two partners who certainly are over-the-top on the "joy" aspect of running are my dogs -- Max, a 3-year-old, black border collie/lab mix, and Kona, a 7-year-old golden Australian Shepherd mix. Upon seeing me dressed in my running clothes, they both begin to squeak, jump, whine and race around the house or yard with the unbridled enthusiasm of my sister in a shoe store. This reaction shifts quite quickly later on during the runs when Max, the hyperactive one, gets bored with my plodding pace, peers back at me in exasperation and then eventually opts to run ahead to stay with my much-faster-running-husband, Andy.  Kona, however, is my running soulmate as she struggles up the hills with me in blissful ignorance of how much work may lie ahead.  If she needs to slow down, she does so without shame, keeping a huge doggie smile and enough drool pouring off her chin to drown a small child.  She never leaves me behind, and for that, I am grateful.

In addition to my canine companions and my very patient husband, I would be remiss if I didn't mention my other very important running buddy, Alice.  Alice is the name I've bestowed upon the woman who casually reports my progress through the GPS running application on my iPhone. (I actually took the idea from my mother, who named her car GPS based off the old Jefferson Airplane song, "Go Ask Alice.")  Now Alice, although they say is just a collection of computer code, I swear is nothing but a snotty, self-righteous tattletale who rarely has anything nice to say.  As she rattles off the time I've lost for each and every mile, I ask myself why in the world I bother to bring her along and often consider tossing her in the ditch, if it didn't mean I wouldn't be able to play Words with Friends when I got home. In the end, I guess I decide I need the accountability and I consider Alice like a golf game -- most of the time it sucks, but the rare moments you do it right, you feel like a million bucks!

While many runners will detail intricate physical training programs that involve specific time, distance or drills, I believe my little collection of running partners is sufficient mental training for the Triple Crown Races I will run this season. If you have ever run a race, you have likely encountered someone of each category I describe.  You've seen the encouraging, Good Samaritans (Andy), the overly enthusiastic athletes (dogs), and the naysayers who seem to complain the WHOLE ENTIRE RACE (Alice).  I'm a big believer that your mental state is at least as important as your physical fitness, and I have to remind myself of this factor repeatedly as I run.  (Particularly on the days when I choose my "Willy Wonka" route -- aptly named because it seems no matter which way I'm going, it's always uphill and at the end, I somehow feel entitled to some candy.)

The point is that getting your mind right is the first step to improving the body. I've definitely got more work to do on my fitness, but I know I'm on the right path by surrounding myself with others and keeping a positive outlook along the way.  Even when faced with a friend like Alice, I’ll keep smiling like Kona and hope to one day make it up a hill without boring poor Max too much!  Either way, no matter how slowly I head up the hills in the Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak Ascent or the formidable High Drive, I’ll remember these training runs, treasure the path that brought me there, and know that my mind is healthy and fulfilled.  May we all keep running…with friends.