Running With Friends Makes You A Better Runner
Are you a lone wolf runner? Do you use running as your time to get away from the stress of life? I used to be the same way. My mornings were where I would take time for myself and run without a worry in the world. However, I believe you should make an effort to run with friends at least once a week.
There’s so many ways to find a group of runners in your area. Local running stores tend to host group runs and if you live in a big city, you’re bound to find running groups that fit your schedule. With social media, it’s easy to make relationships with other runners and meet up for runs. Safety first of course! Here’s a few reasons why I believe running with friends make you a better runner.
Accountability
Whenever I schedule a run with a friend, I always show up. Mainly because I HATE when people change plans on me last minute but I also don’t want to be lame. By having others depend on you really motivates you to get out of bed and hit the road. This is especially necessary if you aren’t a morning person or you are in a rough season with race training.
Easily Increase Mileage
Running with friends is great because it makes time go by faster. I remember one of my long runs with my friend during marathon training. We had been running for over an hour but it seriously went by in a breeze! You can use this to your advantage by slowly increasing the length of your run. By having someone along with you while you’re trying to reach your goal, you have more incentive to keep going.
Makes You Faster
This may only work when you purposely seek someone faster than you. Also, this only works if you aren’t trying to run a 7 minute mile when you normally run a 10 minute mile (totally me in college, didn’t end well). Find a friend who’s comfortable pacing you and try to keep up with them. My husband is NOT a runner but he does love riding his bike. He will ride his bike along side me and keep a steady pace. If I’m falling behind, he does not slow down unless I ask him too. I’m too prideful so I’ll keep pushing to stay with him and work hard to stay on pace. Sooner or later, it gets easier for me to stay in that pace. Running consistently with a faster runner will help you increase speed without thinking about it too much.
Make Friends!
This is an obvious point but running doesn’t have to be gloomy and sad. Yes, it’s nice to go on solo runs but some times I’m glad to have someone to complain to on my run. Runners will talk about all the weird and gross things that happen to our feet and body with no problem. Other runners can give you helpful advice and can even help you reach goals. Having friends who are runners is great because they understand that you can be totally exhausted and a mess but feel like you’re on top of the world!
Are you a solo runner? Do you go on many group runs?
