Mon, Jun 17, 2019 - 7K - 01:00:00
7K Run with Steglitzer Lauftreff Group
Gisi and I have been seeing the signs for this running group (www.lauftreff-steglitz.de) for over a year now along the Teltow Canal and so I finally decided to run with them tonight during their 10th Mondscheinlauf. Although we never saw the moon, and although it never really got dark until a little dusk at the end of the run at 22:00, this was a fun (and fast!) group of people with whom I plan to run again in the future.  
 
We took off at a good speed and kept it all the way 3.5 kilometers to Wismarer Str. where we stopped for a few minutes and then ran 3.5 kilometers back. The pace there was an average 5:10 kilometer and the same on the way back, keeping casual conversations going the whole way. 
 
I talked mostly with a guy training for his first triathlon next month asking him about details on the swimming part which, if I am ever going to do a triathlon, I would need to train for quite a bit and overcome my fear of lake swimming, in any case, it was fun to talk to someone excited about their first triathlon and hear how they are training for it. Afterwards we had a little stand-up refresher picnic on the bridge, quite fun. 
 
In all, the group seems to be casual but experienced and strong runners. They advertise that they welcome beginner runners, but if a beginner runner (e.g. 30-min. 5-kilometer-time) had been on this run, they would have been a kilometer or more behind. Apparently on Wednesday and Saturday there are slower groups. I think the best for slower/beginner runners is to write to the organizer (Martin) beforehand and let him know, as he states on the official website.  
 
I hope to soon combine a run with this group on Wednesday with an after-work run and hook up at their 19:00 meeting time with a slower 6-7-minute pace group after the 10K-20K warm-up run to get there. I'm looking forward to it.