21 Replies to “To Run Faster, Find People Faster Than You”
I’m taking this as an excuse to run on the TM at least twice a week, ha! I do think it can be beneficial to be pushed by running with faster people. My problem is that I’m too shy to say, “slow down” and can end up hurting myself if I run with people TOO much faster than me on a regular basis.
there’s a fine balance…u want a group just a wee bit faster that if u stretch a bit u’ll be able to keep up and improve BUT u don’t want a group where it takes u making quantum leaps to keep pace. 😉
I am totally living by this right now. I just joined a group that had only a men’s team. They are starting a women’s team as of when I joined. 🙂 So ya, I train with the boys and will race with the girls!
Great post! I run by myself but run /w a group for my long slow runs. I find they keep me motivated to go the distance. I’d love to have someone faster than me to help /w my speed work 🙂
Great advice about recovery days! Runners need this drilled into our heads:) At some point it sticks though and you learn to love, value and cherish your recovery days!
When I got out of college I was totally intimidated having 4 or 5 girls on my team way faster than me. 3 years later I can finally see how much it has helped me shape my attitude about what I’m capable of! If they can do it so can I!
Hmm that’s a good point about the TM – never really thought about that! maybe if I can teach my leggies to tolerate it I’ll be able to take advantage of that….in college I used to run with the women’s xc/track team for some of their workouts, or I’d run with my boyfriend at the time – he’s a pro triathlete now so his “easy” runs were workouts for me hah. Easy days were always alone, which was nice – I don’t think I could run with other people 100% of the time haha. I gotta find some peeps to train with around here once I get healthier !!
Running with a faster person definitely helps me! Whenever my coach does workouts with us, he pushes me to keep up a good pace – plus I want to show that I can do that! Pretty much all the top runners on my team are around the same pace as me, so we run together and push each other too. I’m actually looking forward to not being the best on my college team so that I can strive to be as good as my older, more experienced team mates!!
that’s my outlook exactly!! u’ll do great in college, the ONLY thing to be careful of is getting too eager and pushing too hard all the time…make sure to keep the recovery days in check. but u kno that girl. 🙂
i STILL need to get better at NOT racing myself every single day. eeeek. i am getting better at knowing the difference. but i think i am still learning that there is a general baseline that i have but also some days i am just tired so perceived effort may be harder at a typical “easy” pace and i need to adjust rather than just pushing myself and getting frustrated!
sometimes just chuck the watch on ur easy days, or play with a heart rate monitor to see wat a true easy effort feels like. don’t ever get frustrated if u even have to slow it down more on an easy day…it’s only the hard workouts that u really want to get after those times. 🙂
When I first started to run, the treadmill was the only thing that I used…for the most part. Every now and again I would run outside. It’s funny, out of all of my friends, none of them are into working out or eating healthy, with the exception of one. It’s hard for us to meet, but we do e-mail each other daily with the mileage that we have done that day. 🙂 Asking a running shoe store is such a good idea, and never really thought about it. I think that I would like to be in the middle, but I hate that my backside jiggles, so I would probably be in the back!
You have such great advice Cait! Thanks so much!
oh miss Brandi we are SO working on that self-esteem of urs!! i hope u don’t mind me dumping advice, and always tell me to shush up if u want too! 🙂 i only say so because i feel like i’ve been in the same position as u and understand where u’re coming from. i’ll tell u now, that ur backside is only jiggling in ur mind so don’t doubt that u’re mid-pack level! 🙂
ya, def go talk to a shoe store and find some new running buddies…the great thing is runners are generally really approachable and love welcoming newbies…and it’ll be awesome to have even more friends! 🙂
PS-and keep up the running and there won’t even be jigglies in ur mind 😉
I’m taking this as an excuse to run on the TM at least twice a week, ha! I do think it can be beneficial to be pushed by running with faster people. My problem is that I’m too shy to say, “slow down” and can end up hurting myself if I run with people TOO much faster than me on a regular basis.
there’s a fine balance…u want a group just a wee bit faster that if u stretch a bit u’ll be able to keep up and improve BUT u don’t want a group where it takes u making quantum leaps to keep pace. 😉
I am totally living by this right now. I just joined a group that had only a men’s team. They are starting a women’s team as of when I joined. 🙂 So ya, I train with the boys and will race with the girls!
thats awesome! groups really do help! I miss mine. But i also like to go on recovery runs with my husband, he kicks my butt. haha
ahhh, a built in training partner for life…i’ll need to find me one of those. 😉
i have to admit that i was always a fan of running with the boys too. 😉
Great post! I run by myself but run /w a group for my long slow runs. I find they keep me motivated to go the distance. I’d love to have someone faster than me to help /w my speed work 🙂
good company for those long runs is great too! 🙂
Great advice about recovery days! Runners need this drilled into our heads:) At some point it sticks though and you learn to love, value and cherish your recovery days!
When I got out of college I was totally intimidated having 4 or 5 girls on my team way faster than me. 3 years later I can finally see how much it has helped me shape my attitude about what I’m capable of! If they can do it so can I!
ya, i think once people get over the intimidation factor it’s soooo good to be at the back/mid pack…in my opinion at least. 🙂
Hmm that’s a good point about the TM – never really thought about that! maybe if I can teach my leggies to tolerate it I’ll be able to take advantage of that….in college I used to run with the women’s xc/track team for some of their workouts, or I’d run with my boyfriend at the time – he’s a pro triathlete now so his “easy” runs were workouts for me hah. Easy days were always alone, which was nice – I don’t think I could run with other people 100% of the time haha. I gotta find some peeps to train with around here once I get healthier !!
it took me a bit to get used to treadmill running, but after a bit it becomes second nature, just a few adjustments and then u’re good to roll. 😉
Running with a faster person definitely helps me! Whenever my coach does workouts with us, he pushes me to keep up a good pace – plus I want to show that I can do that! Pretty much all the top runners on my team are around the same pace as me, so we run together and push each other too. I’m actually looking forward to not being the best on my college team so that I can strive to be as good as my older, more experienced team mates!!
that’s my outlook exactly!! u’ll do great in college, the ONLY thing to be careful of is getting too eager and pushing too hard all the time…make sure to keep the recovery days in check. but u kno that girl. 🙂
i STILL need to get better at NOT racing myself every single day. eeeek. i am getting better at knowing the difference. but i think i am still learning that there is a general baseline that i have but also some days i am just tired so perceived effort may be harder at a typical “easy” pace and i need to adjust rather than just pushing myself and getting frustrated!
sometimes just chuck the watch on ur easy days, or play with a heart rate monitor to see wat a true easy effort feels like. don’t ever get frustrated if u even have to slow it down more on an easy day…it’s only the hard workouts that u really want to get after those times. 🙂
When I first started to run, the treadmill was the only thing that I used…for the most part. Every now and again I would run outside. It’s funny, out of all of my friends, none of them are into working out or eating healthy, with the exception of one. It’s hard for us to meet, but we do e-mail each other daily with the mileage that we have done that day. 🙂 Asking a running shoe store is such a good idea, and never really thought about it. I think that I would like to be in the middle, but I hate that my backside jiggles, so I would probably be in the back!
You have such great advice Cait! Thanks so much!
oh miss Brandi we are SO working on that self-esteem of urs!! i hope u don’t mind me dumping advice, and always tell me to shush up if u want too! 🙂 i only say so because i feel like i’ve been in the same position as u and understand where u’re coming from. i’ll tell u now, that ur backside is only jiggling in ur mind so don’t doubt that u’re mid-pack level! 🙂
ya, def go talk to a shoe store and find some new running buddies…the great thing is runners are generally really approachable and love welcoming newbies…and it’ll be awesome to have even more friends! 🙂
PS-and keep up the running and there won’t even be jigglies in ur mind 😉
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