The “Team” in Team Rogue

During the Tuesday workout another runner and I were discussing what we like about this program. Leaving aside the craziness of the intensity of the training it really came down to the dynamics of the group. As time has gone on the “Team” in Team Rogue has taken on more meaning, for me for sure and I think for others. There’s no one thing about it but for me the experience has been different than other programs I’ve been in at Rogue and outside of Rogue.

The list of things that came up between us included:

1. The intensity of the workouts and the high mileage.
2. Everybody (mostly) all working towards the same marathon and traveling together.
3. The mix of people.
4. The attitude of people, dishing it out and poking fun and also being willing to be more supportive when somebody needs it.
5. Good people.

There are more reasons I’m sure but these are the ones I remembered from the discussion. Working towards the same marathon is one that I think has made a big difference. In previous performance projects we had quite a few different races people were gearing up to and also of different distances. In those cases as we got towards the end of the training seasons you’d have significant number of people dropping off since they were racing. That made the group kind of dwindle. In this case everybody going towards the same race and running together for such a long time has I think helped build a better sense of camaraderie.

As to the people, it really is an interesting group that is very varied. I don’t know if I would have met them if I wasn’t running, all of us can relate to that. I love the mid week runs starting from Barton Springs, if I get a side stitch these days it’s from laughing too hard so I can’t really complain.