Ever since graduating from varsity athletics,
I’ve done 99% of my training alone
and that’s because I chose to continue to pursue high performance
athletics versus social running.
And even with the big increase in popularity of running
and the amount of run clubs that keep popping up everywhere
around the world,
it’s just not something that I personally participate in.
Main reason why I don’t participate in run clubs is because
at some point in your running
when you want to continue to chase performance,
you have to make a decision on what’s best for you.
And personally for me, going to a social 5K or 6K
where the paces may not align with what I’m trying to do
is not gonna benefit me and my training.
I made a decision a long time ago
that if I want to continue to chase performance
and get the best out of myself,
I had to get really greedy with my training.
The unfortunate reality is that most of my runs are done alone now,
but I know at the end of the day
deep down that that’s what’s gonna make me a better runner.
Now it’s not to say that I haven’t tried run clubs before.
I have gone to some usually in the offseason
or every now and then when I try to make it fit with my schedule.
But again, it’s just not something that typically will align with me
and I just get more enjoyment out of Running on my own,
do you recognize that
run clubs do have their time and place and their purpose
and that’s totally fine.
I just find that a lot of them will do a lot of start and stopping.
So the elapsed time for the actual runs tends to be pretty large
and training benefit doesn’t become as much.
So for social purposes, totally fine,
but from a training and performance perspective,
not as great. And even outside of run clubs,
I’ve tried to connect with other athletes around my speed and ability
and that becomes challenging
due to the fact that they have their own coaches.
Sometimes they’re on different workout schedules
or the long run on a different day.
And honestly, they end up just being greedy as me
and they don’t want to deviate from their plan.
So it becomes a challenge
and that’s why we usually end up running alone.
All this to say, it really comes down to your individual goals
and what you want to get out of your running.
If you’re looking to meet new people,
be social, stay active,
run clubs, great option for you.
But if you are looking to chase performance goals
and try to be the best runner you can be
and maximize everything you can,
then you will have to get a little greedy
and maybe make some sacrifices to do that.