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Dumbo Double Dare Training - Week Five

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"Last is just the slowest winner." ~ Author Unknown

While there is always pleasure in a solitary run or walk, there are also times when getting out with a group can be a positive part of a training program. The support that one gains from a group as well as the accountability that a group demands can turn an easy to blow off training morning into a ‘have to be there’ event. Even a virtual running group, such as Team MousePlanet’s own Castle-to-Castle Challenge, can provide that extra push to get out the door and hit the roads.

Years ago, in a hometown far, far away, I was one of four founding members of a running group that we named the Sunday Slugs. Our motto: We get there…eventually. Our logo: a friendly happy cartoon slug. Our reason for being: to have an all inclusive running group no matter the runner’s speed and well, to tweak a few members of the Bloomsday Road Runners Club (BRRC) who were vocal in their belief that anyone who ran over a 6:00 minute per mile pace was slow. And those that were slow were to be looked down upon and occasionally ridiculed. The final straw came when said ‘slow’ runners were described as slugs during a monthly BRRC meeting. It was that night that the Sunday Slugs were born.

The group started with around ten runners and walkers who agreed to meet Sunday mornings at Manito Park Duck Pond on Spokane’s South Hill. Speed was optional – the goal was just get out and enjoy a judgment-free morning on the roads. The Founding Slugs worked out a variety of routes that went from a short three-mile loop along the beautiful Maple trees of Manito Blvd to seven miles of hills that took in a view of Spokane from High Drive. In just a few short weeks with only word of mouth advertising, we grew to twice our initial size.

The real fun started when we began to show up en-mass for local runs in our Slug-wear. I worked with an artist who graciously agreed to design our group logo while another Slug found us a deal on cotton t-shirts (this was before the dawn of tech shirts), sweatshirts, and tank tops. We may not have won the race but we obviously had a fun time in the process. The Slugs gained not only health and fitness but we became good friends who provided both accountability and support.

It’s been almost thirty years since the first Sunday Slug run and the group is still going strong. Over time, the Slugs have included Iron Man triathletes, local age-group race winners, and almost everyone in the group cycled through the walker ranks as age and injury took their tolls. We celebrated weddings and births and shared in the loss of our dear friends including Howard Stamp, one of our founding Slugs who passed two Christmases ago. I moved from Spokane almost sixteen years ago but I know no matter how long I’ve been gone I can always come home and still enjoy a Sunday morning run with the Slugs. There’s always a warm welcome and a group run waiting.

No matter if you run solo or as a group, I hope you enjoy week five of training for the Dumbo Double Dare. As always, keep in mind that extras such as Barre3 and strength training are part of my personal program and are not a part of the official Galloway training program.

  • Monday – Barre3 (travel)
  • Tuesday – 30 to 45 minutes running
  • Wednesday - weight training
  • Thursday - 30 to 45 minutes running (travel)
  • Friday - Barre3
  • Saturday – 6.5 mile run
  • Sunday – Rest

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