Ok runners - do you do it alone, or with a group

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Replies

  • sportzmom23
    sportzmom23 Posts: 103 Member
    Solo. Either they irritate me, bc I want the quiet peace from my kids, or they run slower than me...and I am not fast!
  • JLWellness
    JLWellness Posts: 1 Member
    Run alone, i am self conscious about my speed. Would like to run with people though.
  • LLF423
    LLF423 Posts: 3 Member
    I can enjoy it all. Sometimes that run alone is just what I need to plan the day or solve the problems I've been pondering at work or in life.
    The group run is great because you find your pace in the group and just enjoy the company of having some one around you. you can fall ahead or behind and just knowing you are not alone on some of those long runs is great. nothing like knowing the guy ahead of you is running 16 miles today too....
    And the accountability is great to if you run with a group!
    I dig the running with a friend but that is just for a social run not the training run.

    Solo, group, friend run I just love to get out there and run.
  • always alone, its, my me time, My husband and I go to the park together and set a time to meet back up and we go out own ways. Just make us both happy that way..
  • jgcurry3
    jgcurry3 Posts: 172 Member
    For maintenance I dont mind being alone on a run. But if i want to run faster I find a group of people who are much faster and push myself to keep up.
  • atsteele
    atsteele Posts: 1,358 Member
    Just answered a post about running with someone who paces slower than you by RunnerElizabeth, and it got me thinking about running with people in general - curious how many people prefer running alone, with a group, or a mix of the two. As I answered in that post...

    I've been asked a couple of times to join a running group at work. It'd probably be nice to build some comraderie, but honestly, I really enjoy the "me and the road" aspect of running alone. After listening to inane babble at work all day, and then my kids screaming at each other, it's a welcome bit of downtime to just focus on breathing, do some introspection.

    And, of course, I'm way too fast for all of the casual runners in the group at work, haha :)

    I run mostly by myself because (1) no one else wants to run with me (LOL), (2) I don't want to run with anyone else either (LOL) and (3) I'm working on pace for most of my runs and therefore it seems more kind and compassionate to NOT punish someone else with my own version of self-inflicted torture.
  • SherryR1971
    SherryR1971 Posts: 1,170 Member
    I would love to have someone to run with, but since I don't, I do it alone!!
  • Seaglass1123
    Seaglass1123 Posts: 500 Member
    would love to have someone to run with, but since I don't, I do it alone!!

    But I do love having it be "my time". When I started c25k I never imagined I would love to run so much.

    **meant to quote the person above me
  • gallingers06
    gallingers06 Posts: 43 Member
    It is me, myself and iTunes. :wink:
  • fabfindz05
    fabfindz05 Posts: 92 Member
    With a group during training runs. I would never run otherwise...
  • xgirl451
    xgirl451 Posts: 36 Member
    I train alone but have running friends where we meet up a specific races. We race then we eat and catch up.
  • iLoveMyAR15
    iLoveMyAR15 Posts: 122 Member
    I'm alone but that's because I like to tune out with my iPod and just GO!
  • I ran alone for the first 8-9 months of running. I then joined a training group for a local 10K, largely to meet other people who run and might not have any running friends like me. I wanted to have someone to talk to before and after local races. I rather enjoyed our group runs even though I tended to still be running by myself, with some faster than me and some slower. Still, there was the group to keep an eye out for each other and to start and finish with. One of the ladies in the group and I have done several runs together over the last 2 weeks. We have similar paces but I would say that she is about 30 seconds per mile faster than me. It is really helping me increase my speed. I do worry that I am holding her back though. I have told her that she should certainly go on ahead or do more miles than me if she wants; I will not be offended. She seems happy to do what I want though. On our last training run, we had the race organizer join us. His 10K speed is substantially faster than ours. But his intention was to do the run at our pace and to tell us about the upcoming race. He chattered non-stop the entire time. And.....I ended up with a faster pace than I had hoped for on race day and we took it relatively "easy". He was very entertaining and it made the run so much easier. The results of the run (both pace and enjoyment) were not what I would have expected and makes me realize that a run isn't always going to be what you expect and to be open to new things and see where they take you.
  • I prefer running alone. Enjoy the music, the me time and nobody calling "Mom"!! :)
  • cinrn68
    cinrn68 Posts: 215 Member
    So far I've only been running alone, but only because I don't have anyone to run with!! LOL I've thought of joining a running group, but the days/times don't coincide with my crazy schedule. Also, like a few others, it's my "me" time away from "Mommy... mommy..." just me and my tunes... :)
  • Sweet_Pandora
    Sweet_Pandora Posts: 459 Member
    I run alone! I prefer it that way, it's my time to escape.

    Karen
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    alone,
  • Carolyn_79
    Carolyn_79 Posts: 935 Member
    Definitely with a group. I run with others from The Running Room so were divided into pace groups which is nice. I sometimes run with co-workers but don't enjoy it as much because I'm following a schedule so some days I'm doing a Tempo pace and others a Steady pace and they always run at the same pace. I've stopped running with them and just stick to running with my club.
  • rbull98
    rbull98 Posts: 2 Member
    I also run alone. Reason are pretty much the same as you ... enjoy the "quiet and alone time". Jogging to me is more of an individual sport anyway. I would think running with someone would require me to "moderate" my pace to either slow down or feel obligated to speed up ... either way don't need the stress around this for this sport

    When I want to socialize / workout I go with Hockey or touch football.
  • manhn1
    manhn1 Posts: 137 Member
    I run alone but I would probably enjoy joining a running group of some sort. They would push me in a way that I don't do myself (doing hills, interval training, etc). But my schedule isn't flexible and I try to limit my money on exercise.
  • CrisAlex
    CrisAlex Posts: 236 Member
    I run alone. I like the choice of deciding on my speed and route. Plus it is my time away from everything, and I fit it in according to my crazy schedule. Sometimes I run as early as 5:30 a.m. and as late as 9 p.m.
  • czmmom
    czmmom Posts: 236 Member
    I run alone. I need the me time. I also don't want to have to worry about keeping up with another person's pace. I wave and say hi to many of my neighbors as we run around the neighborhood.
  • lheyens
    lheyens Posts: 62
    I run alone, well kinda I guess.. through the winter I run at the gym. but summer time I like to run just me and the pavement, Its my me time. THats how my gym time is, my me time, my sanctuary, that one place/thing where all seems alright no one else matters. My worries are sweated out.
  • :smile: I have came to realize that I will run longer if i am running with someone or with a group. When I am running on my own I wont try to be number one, I will also stop often. For example today at Team Pump (workout) we did a lot of running I did not stop because i didnt want to let the others down and I wanted to show them that I could do it.
  • marikevr
    marikevr Posts: 389 Member
    I mix it up. If I want a 15 mile run to feel like a 15 mile run, I run alone. If I want a 15 mile run to feel like an 8, I run with a friend. A running partner makes the miles go by faster on a long run.
  • links_slayer
    links_slayer Posts: 1,151 Member
    one man lone wolf pack here.
  • moochachip
    moochachip Posts: 237 Member
    I mix it up. Two days I run with a group of people, but we also usually don't run at the same speed. For my long run day, I go it alone. My group days push me to go faster, but my longer run days is just me, my thoughts, and music.
  • blackcloud13
    blackcloud13 Posts: 654 Member
    I always run alone. I can't imagine I'd be able to talk much, as I run out of breath after about 14 yards!
    Also, I like to vary my pace randomly, and I like the time to let my mind wander; works really well.
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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I like "doing it" in a group, but my wife really isn't down.