the best kind of peer pressure

I'm a big fan of peer pressure used the right way. When we first began training, I suggested that each of my teammates hang their training schedules next to mine on the outside of my cubicle. We each check off the days for which we complete the required miles or cross-training successfully. It's incredibly motivating--you don't want to be the one person with a day's run not crossed off!

(Yes, my 9-miler remains unmarked. I'm very excited for the halfway point in our training, when we'll get to flip the calendar over to Side 2 and my few missed runs will stop glaring at me.)

For the same reason of purely positive peer pressure (say that 20x fast--go!), I am hereby vowing never to do a long run by myself again. At our recent grueling 10-miler (which absolutely deserves a post of its own--stay tuned), there is no doubt in my mind that I would have walked the last mile had not my awesome teammate Jess been jogging alongside. Finally, my competitive nature is good for something other than family feuds over Risk games!

Number one thing learned training so far: If you can help it, don't go it alone.