Boutique Running Club number 2 - not so much of a tortoise after all!

This time last week I was posting about how I'd just taken part in my first Boutique Run and how hard I'd found it keeping up with the pace. Well, I've just come back from this week's run and it was quite a different story.

The Boutique Running Club is run by the people at Boutique Sport It's a great idea - a free running club for women that meets once a week to run just under 3 miles in Central London.

I'd had an e-mail during the week from one of the Boutique Sport people who had seen my blog last week and wanted to make sure that I was coming back this week. I thought it was really nice of them, I had decided that I would go back anyway but it was good to get the e-mail all the same.

When I turned up this week I was feeling less nervous than the week before. I knew what was in store and recognised some of the people from the previous week - everyone was really friendly. The group was a bit smaller this week which turned out to be a really good thing.

We set off on the same route as last week but this time we all stayed pretty much together. After the first mile I was right in the middle of the group, the pace was challenging but manageable. The second mile took us along the Southbank and over Westminster Bridge. I didn't realise it at the time but I was running the faster mile I've ever done.

By this time I was towards the back of the group but I could still see everyone ahead of me, really different to the week before where I had fallen way behind. I think having a smaller group made a real difference. Before I knew it we were making our way back through Covent Garden to the studio where we started and this week I didn't finish last!

I took my new Garmin watch out with me and couldn't wait to get back and look at my stats. I ran 2.73 miles in 31.21 mins and I ran the 2nd mile in 10.20 mins. This is brand new territory for me and I'm delighted with that time.

I'm really glad that I went back after last week, proud of what I've achieved and looking forward to next week's run to see what else I can do!