Friends for Speed...

I am always surprised how running with others makes my running better. Although this is true, I have to portion it out like eating cookie dough. If a person eats too much they crash; hard. It is the same with me, if I always ran with others I would soon tire of it and my introverted self would need a long solo run.

There are two main instances in training that I have found group running to be the most beneficial. The first is doing track workouts. Others always seem to bring out my sense of competitiveness and my repeats are much faster than doing it alone. The second is long runs. When I do long runs by myself I am more likely to stop and walk when I get past the half way mark. I even try to vary the route to keep it mentally exciting, but my ultimate keep going tool is other people. I have even been known to run a personal record, by 20 seconds, in a 5k in March because I ran with faster friends during the winter months.

There is one other great value I find from running besides being pushed to go harder or farther. That other thing is the camaraderie I get from jaunting at a fun run. The first two are fun, but the fun run is the pinnacle in my opinion. Even though I could not do them all the time, they bring out the best part of the running community.

No matter what the run, friends make it better. No matter the run, if I have been doing solo runs for a while I know a group run will raise my spirits.