It's interesting, one of the reasons I started running is also one of the reasons I've always played basketball. It's something you can do totally on your own. You literally don't need anyone else to participate with you in order to do it.
Even more interesting? I wouldn't be where I am with running today if I didn't have so many great people in my life.
Some of my running people have been friends for a long time, some have become good friends only recently, some are more casual acquaintances and some I have never met in person. Every single one of them is an integral part of my running experience whether it's past, present or future.
Case in point in the present: I'm going to do a 'tempo run' tonight, a faster version of your normal run in order to get your muscles used to a quicker pace on longer runs (or something like that, I know they keep making me faster). There are a few people in my running group that run near or faster than my pace and are willing to drag me along with them. One of them is training for a tri, the other two are not sure they will be there tonight. I'm sure I can do a tempo run without them but not 100% sure, on my own I run near the 7 minute mile mark. With them, last week I ran a 6:23 minute mile average.
Case in point, past: Preparing to run my 2nd half marathon this last November, I had set a goal of 2:10:00. This made sense as I ran a 2:20:00 half at the end of August and I felt like I didn't push myself hard enough. A 10 minute improvement was very reachable considering my previous finishing time and my training since the last race. I met up randomly with a friend from the running group that morning and we chatted about the goal time for the run, she wanted to finish near the same time I did so we ran together. We took turns during the 13.1 miles leading and pulling each other along and in the end finished right around 2 hours. A kick ass half marathon for both of us. Talking about it later, we were both completely dependent on each other to keep up the pace. I felt like she was dragging me through it, she felt I was pushing her. It was a great run.
I'm running every day now, to the tune of 22-26 miles a week (inspired to run every day, by the way, by someone I don't know in person at all). Believe that this gives you an opportunity to run with a lot of people. What I know now is that the people who you run with aren't the only ones that are important. I'm inspired very often, and was in the past as well, by people who don't run at all and that I've never run with. As a matter of fact, some of the people that inspire me, I thought were frikken crazy for running when they were doing it and I wasn't.
Ok, I'm going to cut this short since I have some things to do tonight, including my tempo run and a softball game. More on the people aspect of running when I get a chance.
Just keep running baby!!
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