Running - Athletics clubs

Misssynth
Misssynth Posts: 179 Member
edited November 18 in Fitness and Exercise
My partner and I are toying with the idea of joining our local athletics club. Reasons being - proper coaching, form correcting, motivation and the social aspect of it.
He's been running for a while, had a little 3 year break from it and got back into it last year and I started as a complete beginner last spring. I'm currently following a beginners marathon plan to up my distance and endurance before doing a marathon next spring.
Who is a member of one? Is it worth it? If you're not, why not?

Replies

  • JessM822
    JessM822 Posts: 73 Member
    Why do you feel the need to really join a gym for just running? When you buy your shoes at a running store they usually go a thorough job of working with you on what you need. Plus, most people that work at actual running stores live that lifestyle and probably more knowledgeable in that specific area than a personal trainer. Personally I don't care for personal trainers at all.
  • Leyshinka
    Leyshinka Posts: 54 Member
    edited May 2017
    I have recently thought of joining a club too but for sprinting. I would love to train as a sprinter and be able to do a 100m sprint in 12 seconds. I think its a good idea.
  • MobyCarp
    MobyCarp Posts: 2,927 Member
    Misssynth wrote: »
    My partner and I are toying with the idea of joining our local athletics club. Reasons being - proper coaching, form correcting, motivation and the social aspect of it.
    He's been running for a while, had a little 3 year break from it and got back into it last year and I started as a complete beginner last spring. I'm currently following a beginners marathon plan to up my distance and endurance before doing a marathon next spring.
    Who is a member of one? Is it worth it? If you're not, why not?

    There are all sorts of athletic clubs. The important thing is finding one that is a good fit for you. If it's not a good fit, it's not worth your time or money.

    I belong to a running club, but not to a gym. I joined the club a couple years ago about this time. I had noticed that all winter and spring, *everything* was an excuse not to do speed work. The club had practices twice a week, and I thought that a bit of peer pressure and companionship might get me to actually do the speed work I had been thinking about. It worked. I also got better coaching than I had ever had before, a custom plan for marathon training, and advice from the coach who wrote the plan on when and how to modify it for my individual needs. This turned out to be a very good fit for me. After I aged up to 60, there was a bit of pressure to travel with the team to USATF national events. That's been kind of fun, but I won't have regrets if a couple of faster guys age up in a year or two.

    But not all clubs operate the same way or have the same goals. You need to look at what clubs are available where you are, what their goals are, and what they offer to members. Then decide whether one of them looks good enough to join and try for a while. What "good enough" is like will depend on what you want out of the club. Is there a coach? How much of his/her time is devoted to members like you? Is there a good group of members that you can relate to? When and where are practices, and what is involved in them? Positive answers to this type of question would indicate trying the club out. A few months of participation should tell you whether it's working well for you or not.
  • 30kgin2017
    30kgin2017 Posts: 228 Member
    I am a member of 2 running clubs, both offer timed events. One does a run at different spot each week and also the odd bbq afterwards or special event the other is the same course each week. Both are purely social, motivation comes from the fact it is times and results are recorded but also seeing my family weekly (my Dad and Sister also go to one of them). I am not competitive enough to need form correction/coaching for me is purely a social/fitness thing. Though I have had to see a podiatrist for feet issues who looked at my form.
  • Misssynth
    Misssynth Posts: 179 Member
    JessM822 wrote: »
    Why do you feel the need to really join a gym for just running? When you buy your shoes at a running store they usually go a thorough job of working with you on what you need. Plus, most people that work at actual running stores live that lifestyle and probably more knowledgeable in that specific area than a personal trainer. Personally I don't care for personal trainers at all.

    I think you missunderstood what I meant. A gym and personal trainer is completely different to an athletics club. I'm a member of a gym anyway, for strength training and cross training.
    I have the right shoes, it has nothing to do with shoes!
  • Misssynth
    Misssynth Posts: 179 Member
    MobyCarp wrote: »
    Misssynth wrote: »
    My partner and I are toying with the idea of joining our local athletics club. Reasons being - proper coaching, form correcting, motivation and the social aspect of it.
    He's been running for a while, had a little 3 year break from it and got back into it last year and I started as a complete beginner last spring. I'm currently following a beginners marathon plan to up my distance and endurance before doing a marathon next spring.
    Who is a member of one? Is it worth it? If you're not, why not?

    There are all sorts of athletic clubs. The important thing is finding one that is a good fit for you. If it's not a good fit, it's not worth your time or money.

    I belong to a running club, but not to a gym. I joined the club a couple years ago about this time. I had noticed that all winter and spring, *everything* was an excuse not to do speed work. The club had practices twice a week, and I thought that a bit of peer pressure and companionship might get me to actually do the speed work I had been thinking about. It worked. I also got better coaching than I had ever had before, a custom plan for marathon training, and advice from the coach who wrote the plan on when and how to modify it for my individual needs. This turned out to be a very good fit for me. After I aged up to 60, there was a bit of pressure to travel with the team to USATF national events. That's been kind of fun, but I won't have regrets if a couple of faster guys age up in a year or two.

    But not all clubs operate the same way or have the same goals. You need to look at what clubs are available where you are, what their goals are, and what they offer to members. Then decide whether one of them looks good enough to join and try for a while. What "good enough" is like will depend on what you want out of the club. Is there a coach? How much of his/her time is devoted to members like you? Is there a good group of members that you can relate to? When and where are practices, and what is involved in them? Positive answers to this type of question would indicate trying the club out. A few months of participation should tell you whether it's working well for you or not.

    Thank you for this. My local club has a specific road section with social runs and time trials and say they accept from beginner upwards which is great. You do however have to pay the joining fee before going on your first run with them and at £40 I can't really afford to not get anything out of it and just stop going, so I'm doing my research. I'm going to fire them an email and see if I can at least go along to chat with them first though. I don't know if theres an actual coach, it would be good if there is though but their website is pretty basic so I'll have to find out.
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