Yes, I am a solo runner and I am OK with it.
When I first started running back in 2005, running wasn’t a “thing”. At least to me it wasn’t. I didn’t know many people that ran nor were any of my friends runners. Over the years I met more people that ran and now many of my friends are runners.
For my first marathon in 2006, I trained with CARA and would meet up with my group on the weekend for my long runs. I did a few other marathons for charity and also trained with CARA.
Picture below is from my first marathon – The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in October 2016. It was cold. Then the following year it was blistering HOT and the race was cancelled.
I also trained with Chicago Endurance Sports for a marathon and several half marathons. I liked it so much that I became a pacer! Still many times I doubted myself and thought that I wasn’t a good pacer.
I started training with Mary in November of 2017. I did most of my runs by myself and outside in the cold weather. In the past I would do many runs on the treadmill. That winter was an eye opener for me because I ran outside (about 95% of my runs were outside) and I learned so much about winter gear. I actually liked my runs. This past winter was a different story as it was just a bitter and cold winter.
There are so many running groups/clubs in Chicago. While I do like the camaraderie of running with a group, I still prefer running alone. Let me tell you why.
• Alone/quiet time – This is the time that I think about my personal goals, work goals, plans, etc. I listen to music and actually enjoy listening to the songs on my playlist. This may be mean but I don’t like listening to anyone’s conversation during a race, so for sure I don’t want to listen to anyone’s on a run. Bottom line, I don’t like to talk to anyone when I am running. 🙂
• Set my own pace – My easy runs are “slow”. I don’t want anyone waiting for me nor do I want to run faster just to catch up to other runners. While running alone I can slow down (or walk) when I want to or pick up the pace if I want to as well.
• Sometimes I don’t want to run – Life happens and sometimes I am too tired to get up and run. I simply turn off my alarm and go back to sleep. I won’t feel bad bailing on a group because there is no group.
• I run very early in the morning – I don’t think anyone wants to run with me so early in the morning. Depending on my run, I am up and ready to go by 5.
However, I won’t say no if someone wants to run with me. But who would want to after reading this post? Haha. I will make sure to tell that person that I will not be talking during a run. Would YOU run with me? Probably not. 🙂
This week’s Tuesday Topic: Are you a solo or group runner? You can write about this topic, or feel free to post any running related blog post. Remember to Link-up with Kim and Zenaida! Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier! Remember to come back for later linkers!
