Running is an individual sport. No one can do the work for us. And yet, the impact others can have on our abilities is truly profound. When people ask me what I love about running, my answer is always the community. Within this community, I have found my greatest strength. What I can do alongside other strong women (and men) is often more than I could ever do alone.

When I first moved to Tampa several years ago, I struggled most with not having a running tribe. My Atlanta running community changed my life. It was the running community there that convinced me I could do impossible things, and it started an incredible journey to finding my inner strength through endurance sports. The beautiful thing about running is that you are never alone, even when you relocate hundreds of miles. The community eventually finds you, drawing you in and embracing you where you are. I started running with one friend. And that friend introduced me to another friend, who introduced me to another friend. Last week, a small little local running Facebook group I started with a few women has transformed into 80 moms linking up to run together in our community. Almost every run I do these days is with other strong mamas pushing me. It is truly inspiring. They motivate me to keep waking up at 5 a.m. and to push myself to maintain tough paces on speed and tempo days. More than anything though, it’s the connections and bonds we form in the wee hours of the morning building forward momentum together.

Here is what the past two weeks of my training have looked like, fueled by the motivation and strength of my new running tribe.

Week of February 19

• Monday: 5.23-mile easy run at 6 a.m. with a friend (9:04/mile average)
• Tuesday: 4-mile interval run on the treadmill during lunchtime with an easy warm-up and cool down + 5 minutes hard, 2.5 minutes recovery, 4 minutes hard, 2 minutes recovery, 3 minutes hard, 1.5 minutes recovery, 2 minutes hard, 1 minute recovery, 1 minute hard, 1 minute recovery. My pace started at 7:30/mile for the first one and progressively got faster down to 6:49/mile for the last one.
• Wednesday: 45-minute boot camp workout at 6:30 a.m. with a focus on strength training, including five rounds of two exercises each
• Thursday: 5-mile easy run with a friend at 5:30 a.m. (9:36/mile average pace)
• Friday: 45-minute barre class at 5:45 a.m.
• Saturday: REST
• Sunday: 10.2-mile long run with the first 8 miles easy and a fast finish for the last 2.2 miles at 7:53, 7:52 and 7:30; I ran this alone starting at 5:45 a.m. and jumped into the Gasparilla Half Marathon that was taking place nearby for my latter miles (8:58/mile average)

Week of February 26

• Monday: REST (the day got away from me and I chose to sleep in … I shifted this easy run to Wednesday instead)
• Tuesday: 6-mile run on the treadmill late in the day with 2 x 2 miles at tempo pace, with the first set at 7:45/mile and the last set at 7:30/mile followed by 15 minutes of runner-specific strength training and 10 minutes of foam rolling
• Wednesday: 5-mile easy run at 6:30 a.m. after doing an interview for our local CBS affiliate live during the 5 a.m. broadcast. Watch the interview here.
• Thursday: 6 miles at 5:30 a.m. with friends including 12 x 1-minute hard followed by 2 minutes recovery between each progressing from 7:15 to 6:03/mile pace for the intervals; 75 minutes of restorative yoga toward the end of the day
• Friday: 50-minute tabata-style strength training session in a 90-degree heated room
• Saturday: 12-mile easy run at 5:30 a.m. with friends (8:58/mile average pace)
• Sunday: REST (rode my bike 8 miles around town with my family)

Find more of my daily training updates on Instagram.

How did your past week of training go? What are you most proud of, and what are you most challenged by at the moment with your running?