I may have mentioned that I met my 500 miles in 2013 running goal. And I alluded to the fact that I spent a lot of time on the treadmill in the last 10+ months.

What I didn’t say was that “a lot of time” is probably 75% of the time, and of the other 25%, almost all of it was spent running by myself.

I’m perfectly content, most of the time, to run by myself. I can jump on the treadmill basically whenever I want to (as long as the toddler isn’t awake and out of his high chair), and I can wake up way too early on the weekends and head straight out the door, coming straight back when I’m done.

I enjoy listening to the music while I’m running, or watching shows on Netflix or the DVR. It’s nice to feel like I’m accomplishing something while I’m catching up on Project Runway or the Voice.

But in CA, I got my first taste of running with a partner. Sure, Erin and I only ran together during the boot camp for maybe half a mile, but it was really nice to run beside someone that kept the same pace and that I could talk to if I wanted (but didn’t have to…the silence was good, too).

I also, know, though, that I don’t push myself as hard as I would if I were running with someone else. There’s no one telling me that I should keep going , and I’m not telling anyone that we can run a little further before we stop to walk for a bit. If my mind is messing with me and telling me that I should stop to walk, I do, most of the time. Sometimes I can ignore it or run to the next pole, but my mind tends to be stronger than my body when it comes to running.

A lot of the races that I’ve done were with my mom, and I love that. I love talking to her on the ride over, and “warming up” with her. She works a lot and we rarely have time to just talk, so I love spending a few hours with her. But, we don’t run together. Usually, we stay together for the first few minutes of the race and then we separate and meet back up at the finish line. And that’s fine, but the three miles can seem extra long when you’re running by yourself and being passed by (or passing) strangers. It’s just not as fun.

The worst race I ran was last year, and it should have been so much more fun. There were four of us doing the night “glow” race, and two of our group ran together, and the other two of us got separated. I actually did end up running faster than I had been and beating my PR (back then), but after it was over, I couldn’t find any of my group. I couldn’t find the car, and I was the only one with a cell phone with me. So, I wandered for at least 20 minutes, in the dark before the two together made it back to the car and called me. It sucked.

When I did my first half marathon a month or so ago, I was really, really lucky that my friend Liz and my mom were willing to travel with me. My mom was there for support and to run the 5K, and Liz ran the half. She finished almost an hour ahead of me, though, and while it was awesome to have them there and get to hang out with both of them the night before and before and after the race (and okay, during when they both came back for me), those first 11 miles were rough. I was already not feeling well, and as the time drug on, the more I wanted to quit or just walk. The only reason I ran at the end at all was because Liz and my mom were with me for the last little bit.

I have the WDW half marathon in January, and while I’m part of the “team”, I live two hours away from everyone else and don’t have the chance to train with them. I may not even meet the rest of them until the event. I do also know Laura, who’s representing the LLS TNT Canadians and I hope that, even with the huge crowd, we’ll have the chance to connect and possibly run together? It’s a long shot, but my fingers are crossed.

And….I signed up for another half in Kansas City in April (I’m not sure yet  if I’ll regret it…). I know several people that are (or may be) going, but I would love to find someone to run with or even (gasp!) train with once in a while.

Because running by myself every day can be rejuvenating, but running a race by myself is boring.

Do you work out alone, or in a group?

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