As someone who used to be very much a loner and very much enjoyed concentrating on things by myself, it has been interesting to experience the past week. I enjoyed a run with three friend for part of the way and two friends the entire way a week ago. That was 6 miles with 4 of us and 13 with the remaining three. Not quite conversation the whole way, but certainly at a pace at which we could have had conversation the entire way.
Then, on Tuesday, there were five of us who showed up at the track. Along with the five runners who showed up, we also had the officer who opens the track show up on time--which does not always happen. Several of us noted how ironic that on the day of some of the worst weather on which we had bothered to show up, the officer was there on time. The weather this past Tuesday was such that there was a thin coat of ice still covering the doors of my car even after a 20 minute drive to the track. It had been easy enough to crack the ice on my windshield and remove it. And the track remained covered with a thin layer of ice. But the artificial surface was gritty enough that the track had enough traction so that at the easy pace at which we were running, no one fell. One of the runners chose to do a harder workout that day and he remained uninjured. The four of us who stayed together did not run in a single file line or even 2x2 but managed to stay in a line of four the entire time. We called it "synchronized running." And while it ended up being five easy miles rather than our usual run on the track, we all enjoyed the run in comparison with not doing anything.
When Thursday came, I did not have any takers for joining me on the track. So, I went and ran a 4x800 alone. It was a good workout time times ranging from 3:06 to 2:58 and getting faster each time. That bodes well for a season of 5K's starting in April. And while I enjoyed running my pace rather than the 3:25 pace we had planned for Tuesday, I missed the camaraderie that comes with being with other runners.
And on Friday it was so cold that I just ran an easy 6 miles at an 8 minute pace on the treadmill. I have been running on the treadmill for years, even including one twenty miler on a treadmill back in 2012, but I did not enjoy the run. I felt better after the run, but the tedium of 48 minutes on the treadmill that particular morning was noticeable.
What does this mean moving ahead? Hopefully I won't completely lose interest in working out on my own. However, I do expect that the social aspect of running, which I have already found to be important over the past four years of training starting with Charm City Run, will become even more important over time. It will be interesting for me to see how this aspect of my running evolves with other aspects of my running life.
Then, on Tuesday, there were five of us who showed up at the track. Along with the five runners who showed up, we also had the officer who opens the track show up on time--which does not always happen. Several of us noted how ironic that on the day of some of the worst weather on which we had bothered to show up, the officer was there on time. The weather this past Tuesday was such that there was a thin coat of ice still covering the doors of my car even after a 20 minute drive to the track. It had been easy enough to crack the ice on my windshield and remove it. And the track remained covered with a thin layer of ice. But the artificial surface was gritty enough that the track had enough traction so that at the easy pace at which we were running, no one fell. One of the runners chose to do a harder workout that day and he remained uninjured. The four of us who stayed together did not run in a single file line or even 2x2 but managed to stay in a line of four the entire time. We called it "synchronized running." And while it ended up being five easy miles rather than our usual run on the track, we all enjoyed the run in comparison with not doing anything.
When Thursday came, I did not have any takers for joining me on the track. So, I went and ran a 4x800 alone. It was a good workout time times ranging from 3:06 to 2:58 and getting faster each time. That bodes well for a season of 5K's starting in April. And while I enjoyed running my pace rather than the 3:25 pace we had planned for Tuesday, I missed the camaraderie that comes with being with other runners.
And on Friday it was so cold that I just ran an easy 6 miles at an 8 minute pace on the treadmill. I have been running on the treadmill for years, even including one twenty miler on a treadmill back in 2012, but I did not enjoy the run. I felt better after the run, but the tedium of 48 minutes on the treadmill that particular morning was noticeable.
What does this mean moving ahead? Hopefully I won't completely lose interest in working out on my own. However, I do expect that the social aspect of running, which I have already found to be important over the past four years of training starting with Charm City Run, will become even more important over time. It will be interesting for me to see how this aspect of my running evolves with other aspects of my running life.
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