Today I ran 6 miles at 6:36 pace alone. We had OYO today, which stands for 'on your own'. I felt really good again and strong.
I tend to like running alone more than running with another person, for two reasons. First, when I run with other people, everybody wants to take the lead and lead the group so they look like they are the fastest. While this is normal among distance runners, a collegiate athlete should have more discipline and self control than that. When the faster guys on the team run 5:45 pace easily for a steady 8 mile run and you run 5:55 for that same run, they are obviously at a higher training level and there for should be leading the pack or running faster than the pack. It's just a common understanding that runners should have, but most do not.
Secondly, I like running alone because I did it for the first 5-6 years of my running career and I'm used to it. I trained for years by myself and it was a pleasant experience. I never had to worry about someone trying to push the pace, or somebody having to stop and using the bathroom, or running too slow. I had complete control of the run and that's the way I like it. It's harder to do when running with others.
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I agree with you on the benefits of running alone. Once in a while it's nice to run with others, but I have a twice a week limit. Anymore than that and I get annoyed. When I run alone I feel I have 100% control. When I run with others I sometimes feel like I'm at the mercy of them.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% with you on this. I like being in control of my own run, not putting it in the hands of a group. I know sometimes it is necessary to run with a group so of course I will, but 70% of my runs I would like to run alone.
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