Reconciling with my training buddy

[ZoomZoom]

My partner and I started a few weeks ago. Last week, at the end of week 2 partner needed to rest her knee because it hurt. I in the meantime went out and started week 3. Now I am about 2 runs ahead of my partner, and I wandered what other people did in these circumstances. For safety sake, we run together at night, but I did some runs over the weekend in the daytime on my own.

[Nilzed]

Can she do some extra runs this weekend, while you resist moving on and just repeat your last 2 runs or do something else?

[ZoomZoom Graduate]

Problem is she seems to be affected by one aliment after the other (chest was sore last night). Perhaps I am just being unsympathetic. It just seems that we are going to be more than 2 runs apart, and I am happy to do an extra run or two, so that she can catch up, but then I think she'll still not be ready to move onto the next week

[weighty80 Graduate]

If you get as much as a week or two ahead, then depending on your level of fitness, you could do your runs AND accompany her on hers... by the time you're running 5 minutes, a few 90 second runs doesn't sound like you would be overdoing it.

[Nerdio Graduate]

Tricky this. It is obviously a nice thing to be able to run together. Problem is you are both obviously different, and ultimately will have different paces. Maybe you can reconcile that, by the faster of the two of you slowing down to the other ones pace. (Not easy in my experience of hill walking).

You could, as suggested accompany your partner on some their runs, but this would be in addition to your runs. The rest days are important, and in a couple of weeks you will need them. It's all too easy to overdo it (said he sitting here having not run for a week nursing an injury :-().

I think it will depend on how quickly your partner gets back on their running feet. You could 'mark time' so to speak, and repeat a week so they can catch up. You don't have to do the whole thing in 9 weeks. Not many of us did.

Good luck, and get well soon to your partner

[Badger484]

My husband and I are completely different but try to run together as much as we can to encourage each other. I am on week 3 of C25k, he has run a 10k and can easily keep running for a whole 5k.

I find that on my own I slow down too much during the walking parts of the programme, so trying to keep up with him helps keep my speed up. He also doubles back on himself quite a lot, or goes down a side street and comes back, which keeps him nearby but also increases his overall run length while enabling me to continue with my training.

You could do a couple of extra run on the same level as you're doing now, but being on different weeks doesn't have to be the end of the world and you can still run together in a sense. You never know, you might need a week off for some reason and she will catch up!