Joining the land of the living

[JoolieB1]

I graduated with a parkrun 4 weeks ago and enjoyed it but have kept myself to myself running 3 times a week. Did a 5K this week on my own, at the local park which was tough but good. This is going to be a challenging week for me - doing parkrun again on Saturday and then joining a running club for Improvers where they run 5K next Thursday evening. Can I cope with all this social interaction with my running? It is usually just for me LOL!

[Tomas Graduate]

Sounds like you've caught the bug well and truly. Great to hear!

[Steve_L Graduate]

I ran with a club for the first time yesterday evening. I quite enjoyed it. In some ways it was tough (keeping pace with others, despite being told you won't be left behind) and in other ways it was fun, and emphasises the fact you ARE a runner.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[JoolieB1 Graduate in reply to Steve_L]

I know what u mean, the lovely lady who runs it said "we do 5K" and I thought that sounds ok but what sort of speed will it be? LOL, I run between 7-8 min per km!! Who knows, they might be gazelles! We shall see

[Steve_L Graduate in reply to JoolieB1]

The club I'm joining runs in a number of different paced group, so the idea is you pick the right one to run with. Be aware they may talk in minutes per mile rather than km, so get that straight in your head!

We ran for about 50 minutes or so, and covered about 7.5K

[AdamB Graduate in reply to JoolieB1]

I think that the one thing I can guarantee you is that you won't be left behind. I think that they'll slot you into one of the slower groups until they have a feel for your pace, but all our groups have an experienced back marker who will quietly inform the leader to adjust the pace down a bit if necessary. On the one occasion I'm aware of where we had a runner in the group who was definitely out of heir depth the group quietly split into two and the slower runner did a shortened route back in the company of 3 or 4 others (I don't think she was even aware of what had happened). The following week she was guided into a group that was running at the correct speed and distance.

Don't worry about it. The club will have had lots of first time runners before (we all have to start somewhere) and the last thing they will want to do is scare you off. If they have a group only doing 5K, the pace will be fairly relaxed.

[MarlyParly Graduate]

Sounds like you are doing great, & being very brave getting out there & giving clubs, etc a try. For me so far I prefer the odd event with others & the most part solitary runs, early on, just me & nature. Maybe you'll find your perfect mix/balance too, both experiences have their plus points. Main thing is that you are clearly out there running & enjoying it, well done you! X

[JoolieB1 Graduate in reply to MarlyParly]

I do feel brave because I went through C25K on my own so became Miss Independent and now going to have to see where I fit into a "pack" LOL. I think I will secretly like it, all the people I know through the Forum are friendly 😉 Julie

[laurav33 Graduate]

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!