Over the many years that I have run it has been mainly a solitary endeavor. I started regularly running when I moved to Newport Beach in the ‘77 and running on the sand down by the water was and continues to be a great way to commune with nature and to lose one’s self in dissociative exercise. The body sets and follows the rhythm and the mind wanders to where ever it wants and sometimes you get so lost that miles roll by that you can’t remember running. Other times, on days with goal targets, you stay more focused on the task at hand. A medium long run with specific and somewhat difficult splits to hit and it takes staying mentally on top of how you are running to meet your targets (associative running). Still, most running I have done in a vacuum of one, just me and the road, my shoes hitting the pavement or trail and not sharing a bit of it with anyone else.
The biggest problem I had over the years with running partners was finding someone that ran about the same pace. It wasn’t fair to either party if one had to wait all the time or the other was forced to run faster than they should. So I would just go back to my one training partner that I knew I could hang with .. myself.
But this last year I trained with far more people than the previous 52 years combined. What changed? I joined the South Coast Road Runners http://www.roadrunners.org/ and started doing most of my long runs with the group. With a large group you have the wide spectrum of runners represented. Young and not so young … fast and not so fast.
It’s much easier to find a group or another individual that is going your pace for that day. Or if you like to vary your paces you can leap frog from one group to the next and back again.
From a training perspective it is well known that running with a group is easier than solo running. There is a group run dynamic where pacing becomes more automatic and easier to follow as like runners fall into the same rhythm. Plus it’s easier to tell if you are slowing down or speeding up since the collective group will hold a more even pace. And those times when your energy ebbs are easier to deal with when you are with others. Their strength can help keep you focused or you may help pull them along .. it’s all a little easier to deal with with a gaggle of runners.
Then there is the purely social aspect! Maybe because most runners do the majority of their workouts solo, when you get them together they make up for lost time. Talking about running, making jokes, discovering the true meaning of the universe and plain being social happens before, during and after the run. Going for a post run breakfast and coffee becomes the norm and making good friends and running buddies is the natural outcome.
So, if you haven’t already joined a running club in your area I would definitely recommend that you try it out. Be more run social in 2010 and your training will benefit too.