I miss long runs with friends.
On Friday, Mary told me she was running 20 miles on Sunday and was recruiting friends to run part of the distance with her. Knowing I haven’t run more than 6.5 miles since May, I told her I would be more than happy to run some of it with her, but definitely not all of. Yesterday she sent a group text giving the thankfully decent meet-up time of 7:30 and i set my alarm clock accordingly. I’m not going to lie, I was tempted to bail, but after another friend said she couldn’t make it, I decided having one friend bail was enough and I could do this.
Once I was up and at Mary’s, I’m glad I didn’t bail. You never regret a run, right? Especially a run with friends. Courtney joined us as well and, together, we did a 6 mile loop of beautiful Davis Island. Mary and Courtney have been suffering from lack-of motivation this season (as have I), so I think we all needed each other. We kept their version of “easy” pace (currently 8:30 min/mile = my version of holy-crap-this-is-fast pace) and I found myself thankful whenever we saw a water fountain and could take a break.
Mary had completed 10.5 miles before Courtney and I joined her, I ran 6 miles with them, then Courtney finished the remaining miles with Mary. I wish I could have kept with them, but I know my limits and I think 6 miles at their pace was about all I could handle. I was happy to be done.
What? You mean you don’t head right back to your car and start taking ridiculous self portraits of yourself after a run?!
It was nice to run with friends and there’s no way I would have pushed myself like I did today without them. Thank you, Mary, for inviting us out today!
When I made it back home, Derek and I made egg sandwiches for breakfast.
Two pieces of wheat toast, two eggs, two pieces of ham, and goat cheese.
I’m a little sad we’re out of fruit, but the sandwich definitely hit the spot.
I’m off to a friend’s baby shower!
Have a great Sunday!
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m always afraid to run with people because I’m not sure I can keep their pace. I’m a fairly slow runner but I’m improving. I just have my asthma to watch and sometimes slower means I can run further.
Katie @ Talk Less, Say More recently posted..Summer Bucket List – Completed!
Katie – I spent 23 years worrying about that (I am 46) …. but it was a 3 mile run in early April with my brother that told me I was running slower and shorter than I thought. He didn’t care and just kept my pace (OK, he pushed a bit) It was the motivation I needed – I ran my first ever 5k 6 weeks later, keep improving my speed (I will never be ‘fast’), last weekend ran a ~2 hour half marathon, and this weekend ran 10 miles on trails at 8500ft on a trip to Utah for Gear Diary … now I look forward to running whenever and wherever. Don’t need to run with others – but don’t shrink from it either!
Michael Anderson recently posted..Hyundai Takes Us up the Mountain to Discover the New Santa Fe!
Haha I love the photo montage! and I wouldn’t have kept up 8:30 for 6 miles! lol I would have probably crapped out at 4 miles or so!
Katie @ Peace Love & Oats recently posted..Pump Some Iron
I agree, running with friends is definitely motivational and pushes further than you would ever go by yourself! That is an awesome pace, good for you for keeping up!
theresa @ aspoonfulofsunshine recently posted..Summer into Fall Salad
You may have said this somewhere before, but I can’t remember…. Do you eat anything before you exercise in the mornings? If I don’t eat anything my workout suffers immensely and I usually end up feeling sick. I know everyone is different, I was just wondering
Jennifer L recently posted..Why I Climb: A Tale of Two Wheels
YEs, I do. I just usually don’t blog about it since it’s fairly repetitive. I had a piece of toast with peanut butter before my run yesterday.
I love running with people of all paces. Sometimes it’s good to be pushed and sometimes it’s good to enjoy the more social aspect of running with others. I still don’t consider myself a runner because I rarely enjoy runs by myself. You could call me addicted to running with others. #workoutslut
glad I was able to see you this morning!
I agree that running with friends always helps. I spend a lot of my mid week training runs by myself, and I always struggle. Now that I’ve been back to work for a little over a month, I haven’t been able to meet up with any of my friends to run, which has been really tough mentally. As a self proclaimed slow runner, I really feel like I need the extra support, especially during my long runs!
Allison @ Running Through Red Lights recently posted..Cheesehead Half Marathon Recap: Live and Learn
You are so right, you never regret a run…. Or running with good friends!
Running buddies are the best! I ran with a friend for the first time when I was in Sweden this spring, and it was fantastic. I really need to find more runner friends, because it really does make things that much more enjoyable!
Rachel @ Eat, Learn, Discover! recently posted..Work With What You’ve Got
I really love taking before runs and after runs to see how hard I worked on my face. You can totally tell facial expressions. The before is like: omg I am so clean and now I have to go run and get gross and mmm watermelon smoothie afterward face. The after is: sweating is awesome can’t you see that, and stop taking pictures time for smoothie. Ha.
Meghan recently posted..Goofy, really goofy…
Your photos are so adorable. I’m glad you had a good run and that you got to spend some time with your running friends. I’m sure they appreciated your company. Have a great Sunday!
Beth (Running with the Sunrise) recently posted..Lazy Sunday
I love egg sandwich breakfast – but I do agree that some fruit on the side completes it. Grocery shopping time?
Sam @ Better With Sprinkles recently posted..It Was a Two Desserts Sort of Night.
Its funny you posted this because I was just thinking about how I have been lacking some serious motivation as well to get my butt in gear and train for my upcoming fall races. I’m SO glad that I have my running buddies to whip me into shape and get me back into the swing of things.
Mary recently posted..Run Raleigh Half Marathon Race Recap
That is exactly how I feel about 6 miles at that kind of pace. There would be no talking from me on that sort of a run. Yes, I am getting faster, but not there yet.
Emily N recently posted..Columbus: Week 10 in Review