I had my first of eight sessions of the Women's Training Program on Monday night. Basically the program consists of eight weeks of guided training, with an ultimate goal of completing the Women's Distance Festival 5k in late June. About 200 women showed up for the orientation, where we heard from the program director and learned a little bit more about what we were doing. Afterwards we broke into groups based on fitness level, goals, and running pace.

I chose the Run/Walk group since I have slacked off in the running category lately. There was also a Walkers group, a Beginning Runners group (11 minute miles and up) and an Advanced Runners group. We started out with stretching, and then did a nice workout on the wooded trails behind the high school where we meet. The 5k at the end of the program is set out on the same set of trails, so I'm looking forward to training on them.

The cool part about the program is that you can move between the groups each week depending on your progress. And you always have a ton of people around you on the trails to offer support, encouragement, or a general sense of security in what is otherwise a very secluded area. I'm looking forward to going next week!