The past few weeks, I have been enjoying running and training with my girlfriends. Although I do enjoy a solo run… to help calm and refresh me… running with friends is fun! I have found that when I run with friends, I push myself harder, faster, further. The time and distance goes by so much faster. It almost makes a hard workout not-so-hard.
Yesterday, my friend and I busted out a quick speed workout on the side parking lot of our gym. It was a quick but intense 8×200. It was fun chatting with her (when we were not sprinting) and getting to the heart of some girl time talk.
I will be honest. I am not a sprinter. I like long slow distances where I can settle into a happy and comfortable cadence. Sprinting is hard. Sprinting is intense. A sprinter I am not.
I am learning that in order to run faster I must run fast. I will never be a faster runner if I don’t push myself to run fast. So… speed work is something that I am embracing in my marathon training. I will run faster.
Running with my friend, Kristina, was fun. It was hard. It was quick. I pretty much ran with her the first three steps… and then ran after her (chasing her) the remaining 150 meters! Speedy Gonzalez I am not.
Do you like to run with friends… or run solo?
This coming weekend I will be running with my girlfriends as we embark upon another epic adventure running Ragnar Relay Napa Valley. 12 runners covering 200 miles in 2 days. Sounds like a great girls weekend to me!
I love the camaraderie of running with friends and I do tend to push myself more than when I run alone. But it’s often hard to find someone who runs at the same pace and has the same schedule, so I usually run alone.