Running buddies Part 1

8 miles and full of smiles
Nicole - Jen - Kerry

As I get deeper into the thick of half marathon training it has occurred to me -

Running with other people kind of rocks. Like really rocks. Like makes me look forward to my next 10 mile run, rock. Instead of totally slightly dreading long runs, I can't wait for them - and embracing the long run has always been a bit of a battle for me.

I have always been a mostly solo runner and the once or twice that I have run with others in the past, we would start together, put on music and go at our varying pace - then meet at the end. Well, that's pretty much as good as solo running.

And I was always OK with that. I thought that running with someone else would be more messy than good. What if they were faster than me or I faster then them? How would we coordinate time and place to meet? What if I wanted to stop (me? never!) or what if they wanted to?

Well. Three weeks into running with buddies and I have to say all of those what-if's were for nothing.

It all started with Kerry, a fellow Moms In Motion member. We are about evenly matched pace wise (well, she's a bit faster than me but who's counting?) She was on the hunt for a running buddy from day one. I toyed with the idea but all the what-if's came into play and every time she would Facebook post "looking for someone to run with" there was some reason why I couldn't run with her.

I would get jealous when I would see FB posts from other runners saying things like,  "Chrissy and I are getting ready for our 16 mile run! Wish us luck!" Or read blog posts of others who had running buddies. I would think, "they are so lucky, but that would never work for me."

And then one day, Kerry and I were able to make it happen and run together. We decided to skip the music and just talk. And let me tell you, it was awesome. Conversation easily flowed and though our pace slowed with that flow, we both decided that was OK for a long run. So instead of running 5, 6, 7 miles at a 10:30 we'd run them together at a 10:50. What diff?

I guess if you're trying to BQ or PR a race you'd care about that. But now I'll trade a few seconds for some company any day.

This past week, my friend Nicole who is trying to get her miles in for NYC marathon was seemingly having a tough time getting her miles in and enjoying running (been there!) so I told her it was so much more fun to run with buddies... she decided to join us too. And that was just as awesome.

We chatted about the kids, running, our hubby's, our teen crushes (Hello Jersey Girls and Bon Jovi!) and what kind of gels we liked best. The time zoomed by, the first mile passed in a flash. I couldn't believe the difference having a few friends along for the ride made.

Eight miles and they were fantastic.

I see the start to an excellent tradition and some beautiful friendships.

Do you run solo or with someone?

Check out Nicole's journey to NYC marathon at her blog: The Scenik Route.

XO
Jen

PS: From Fat To Finish Line FILM UPDATE: Since we didn't reach our Kickstarter fundraising goal, if you pledged, you won't get charged since it was an all-or-nothing campaign. We still need to raise money however so we've started over with a new fundraising site that allows you to keep whatever you raise and are shooting for a more modest goal. If you can support us - that would be awesome - visit this website. You can still order cool stuff like DVDs of the film, t-shirts and more!