Five Five Friday – Five Ways to Avoid Running Alone

It’s Fit Five Friday!

WELOME to Fit Five Friday with with your FIVE amazing hosts – me, Darlene -My First 5K and More, Michele – Running With Attitude, Jenn – Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida – The Running Teacher ! 

And in case you would like to catch up, I do have a Mid-Month check in post that is a fairly quick read. (hint: it’s not going that well…)

Right, so this week’s topic was about the benefits of running with a friend or partner. I’m just doing a little spin on that.

Five Ways to Avoid Running Alone

Let’s face it, we don’t ALL love running alone and even when we ARE ok with it, it’s generally a bonus to run in a group or with a buddy. When I’m running (as I’m just really not right now) I’m fine running alone. I’m used to it. No one runs at my pace it’s just been how it is for a long time. That’s not to say that I don’t run “together” occasionally with Ron – I do! But his pace is much faster than mine so what he ends up doing is doing loops back to me to check in with me.

You know what I’m going to say for the first one, don’t you? haha!

Number 1: parkrun

I’m serious. If you have a parkrun near you and you don’t go… I just don’t know anymore hahaha! parkrun is globally the most accepting run community there is. You can run with one registration in all 22 countries and 2000-ish locations and you meet amazing people along the way. It’s every single Saturday at 9:00 (times vary per country) and pretty much happens rain or shine (but if it’s dangerous weather or circumstances it will be canceled). Who doesn’t want a Saturday morning run date booked in their diary? Oh and the best part? The coffee and chat afterwards.

Fun fact: a woman I met here in Arnhem had just one school year at the University in Wageningen, found out about parkrun and came every week. Absolutely feel in love with it and made some friends for life! Unfortunately she had to move back to Minnesota, but she loved parkrun so much, she helped set up a new one in her community! That’s the power of parkrun!

Do you have a parkrun near you?

Number 2: Join a local running club

This one can be tricky depending on where you live, but in some places, it’s easy to find a group that would suit your style, pace and other wishes. Whether it’s competitive or social, a slow-and-sexy group, ladies only, etc., these groups are to be found with a little bit of internet research. You can usually ask your local running shop for recommendations as well. Where I live they don’t really suit me, but years ago there was a very social group that I belonged to and I had a massive amount of fun with those runners.

Have you considered or ever joined a local running club?

Number 3: Run with a dog

Ok I know we don’t all have dogs (or have dogs who like to run) but if I COULD have a dog, I would definitely love a running dog! Also there is a safety factor kind of built in and as women we can’t really be too safe out there, am I right?

Have you ever run with a dog?

Number 4: Recruit a friend or Colleague

Definitely seek out your friends who run and check with them if they want to run together! And make it social! Be sure to have a breakfast or coffee date after the run. Not only can you catch up during your session, but a sweet treat or cup of heaven is the reward at the end!

And what about running with a colleague during the lunch break? Or even starting a work run club yourself?

Do you have running buddies or a running club at work?

Number 5: Running apps with Social Features

There’s a lot of apps out there that promote the community spirit. While this may be a more virtual experience, it’s worth giving it a try. From Strava to the Nike Run Club to Runna or even the Jeff Galloway 360 app, there’s plenty of to choose from.

Do you use a community based running app?

Here are the guidelines:

• Your link should center around some kind of fitness (exercise, wellness, mental health, nutrition… the possibilities are endless!)
• Please link back to your hosts! It’s the right thing to do! 
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