I may need my cross country spikes!

On Sunday I wandered over to the forum des associations which consisted of probably a hundred booths for all the organizations and clubs in and around Montluçon. There was quite a variety, including nature clubs, language clubs, history clubs, the Scrabble club and the “naturalist” club which has nothing to do with the environment.

Of course, I stopped by the table for Montluçon Athletisme, the local running club. I picked up a brochure and told the two men sitting there that I was interested in running. They just looked at me for a moment before one asked, “Est-ce que vous avez déjà couri?” Have you ever run before? Yes, three marathons. They looked a little less bored and asked me my best time. Suddenly they were a lot more interested in me and began telling me all about the club, which practice I should attend, and how there’s a really fast 25 year old woman on the team – oh, and here comes the president of the association!

So I talked to the president of the association for awhile, and he told me pretty much the same things that the men at the table did. Even after we said our au revoir and I wandered around to see the other booths, he found me again to make sure I would come to practice on Wednesday.

I realized after I left that I wouldn’t have been very interested in joining if there hadn’t been any women on the team, so it was a good thing that they mentioned the fast woman.

I was a little nervous to go to practice last night, so I sat down with my French/English dictionary and made a list of potentially useful vocabulary.

When I got to the Hippodrome for practice, I realized I didn’t know exactly where I was supposed to meet with the group. Fortunately, the person I chose to ask for directions happened to be the coach! He said he had been expecting me, and we talked about my running history. He decided that I would train for a spring marathon with a winter cross country season – perfect!

He introduced me to several people, including a few women and explained my workout to me. I tagged along with a couple of the women (including the fast one, Cécile, and a 3:25 marathoner named Karine) and a few men on a warmup three times around the Hippodrome infield for about 30 min before doing drills and then beginning the workout. Mine was a little different from Cécile and Karine’s because I haven't done any speedwork in a very long time. I didn't realiwe exactly how slow I was though until they two of them dropped me within five seconds of beginning the first interval! Still, I managed to stay within a decent distance behind them and we ended up cooling down a short time together before stretching.

Both Cécile and Karine were very nice and they seemed glad to have another woman on the team. From what I understood there are now four women running cross country, along with a few sprinters, throwers and jumpers.

After this I talked to the coach again and he gave me a rough plan for the next week. I am to come back Friday for my plan for the rest of vacation time. He also told me that I can run in the first cross country race of the season November 11 if I get my medical certificate in time! Obviously, I am very excited about joining this team. I love running and competing and it seems like an excellent way to make friends and to feel like I belong here.