First group run

So today was an interesting day. I finally got to try the run with a larger group. I thought it'd be a quick 2 miler run but it took a while longer than usual. 
First, we went for a short warm-up run, maybe 0.25 miles and I was already speculating why are we wasting precious energy on this? Turns out, it is actually quite important to get your muscles and body warmed up enough to do stretches. 
So ofcourse, next came stretches, of all kinds and shapes. I had never done stretches before any run. That was a terrible idea but I was learning a lot here already. After about 1/2 hr of various stretching and other exercises, we went for a run. 
2 miles, easy cheesy but that was not the end of it. Just as we got done, we had to stretch out again. And then do some core strengthening exercises (more on this later). I thought going to the gym was sufficient but these side planks and what not, they will get to you. 

Lessons Learnt: 

• Stretches are as critical to your training as actually running (more on this later as well)
• Core-strengthening exercises - Well, let's just say, you may have the strongest legs in the world but you still need those core muscles to carry the rest of your torso. So you need this! 

Distance: 2.08mi
Time: 0:22:08
Avg HR: 177