Tips for Running With Buddies
Lots of people get started with running with a little push from their friends. They may have been inspired, encouraged, or perhaps even dared by friends or family members to start running and enter their first road race. Yes, running with buddies is a great way to stay motivated, boost your performance, and bond with your friends. But before you start training with a friend or family member, it's good to talk about it and make sure you're on the same page to avoid hurt feelings or uncomfortable situations down the road. Here are some guidelines:
Discuss your goals. If you both hope to run all or most of your training runs and the race together, you should have similar goals. Whether your goal is to simply complete the race or run it under a certain time, you should talk about goals in advance, so there are no surprises later. Knowing your goals will also help you decide on a training plan.
Decide how much you'll train together. Discuss the training plan and decide how realistic it is for you to get together for runs. Maybe you'll decide to run together 2-3 times a week, or just do your long runs with each other.
Discuss your goals. If you both hope to run all or most of your training runs and the race together, you should have similar goals. Whether your goal is to simply complete the race or run it under a certain time, you should talk about goals in advance, so there are no surprises later. Knowing your goals will also help you decide on a training plan.
Decide how much you'll train together. Discuss the training plan and decide how realistic it is for you to get together for runs. Maybe you'll decide to run together 2-3 times a week, or just do your long runs with each other.
Establish ground rules. It's good to set up rules, such as whether you can listen to music while running with each other or if you'll always run together, even if one person feels better than the other. If you're running with a very close friend or family member and you're worried about potential conflicts, you may want to set up rules such as no criticizing, no blaming, or ignoring.
Be open to changes. Once you get into your training, you may find that you need to make changes to your initial training and race goals. If your goals no longer match up, discuss how to adjust your training and race plans.
