This Board is why I usually Run SOLO

Ruxton Towers XC wrote:

You are not 100% wrong, even though you are getting downvoted a lot. Some people are lousy training partners.

There are people who I have run with over the years who just weren't worth it. They were either annoying or negative or whatever. The negativity was always the worst; it is hard to train with guys like that. After a few runs, you just parted ways.

But the amazing thing is that I have so many training partners who I have run with since the 1990s and we still all enjoy running together. None of us are perfectly suited but we all compromise of the pace, mileage, and workouts because it is so nice to have other people who share the same outlook on life and love of the sport.

In fact, time with my training partners is one of the things I love most about running.

Do we all have runners like this who we train with:

• College/Club Buddy - You've run together for +20 years and somehow your pace always still aligns perfectly. No matter how your training is going, you can always run with this guy.
  
• The Workhorse - He's better than you but for some reason he likes training with you. He's totally fine leading all the intervals and doing more than his share of the work to help everyone hit their splits. He's like the perfect training partner because he can pace you to anything you want to run. You need someone to run 70s, he's your guy. You need a pacer for a training half-marathon you want to do, he's your guy.
• D1 Boss - He might be injured or old now, but he comes from a program where every run turned into a race and nobody was able to talk during the last mile because they were hammering. But if he was his team's boss then, he still picks the pace and the route on your runs today (even if he is out of shape).
• The Story-Teller - This guy could do 20 miles a day and never runs out of stories. He has trained with everyone, raced everywhere, and can keep up a string of stories even on the uphills. Weirdly enough, the stories get better and better each time you hear them over the years.
• Former Pro - He's way too fast for you, even in his retirement. But on his easy days you can sort of tempo along with him and listen to his stories about guys like Ritz and Tegenkamp and Goucher. You will be hurting for a week each time you run with him but it is totally worth it.
• Late Bloomer - He didn't run in college, but is crushing it as a master runner. He has no decade-old overuse injuries and is setting PRs in his 40s. You are happy for him (because he is so positive and so in love with the sport) but you are also jealous as hell.
• The Nice Weirdo - He's a nice guy but he wears 2" split-side shorts and compression sleeves with a singlet on a freezing day. He wears wraparound Oakley's with mirrored lenses when it isn't even sunny out. He always knew too much about Jordan Hasay and Grace Ping's PRs, but not in bad way.
• Non-Runner Runner - Neighborhood guy who plays soccer twice a week and takes a couple days off but he's actually pretty fit and can do your easy runs with you. And on days when you are tired from a big training block, he looks way fresher. Makes you doubt the value of your "no-days off" philosophy

Ruxton Towers XC wrote:

You are not 100% wrong, even though you are getting downvoted a lot. Some people are lousy training partners.

There are people who I have run with over the years who just weren't worth it. They were either annoying or negative or whatever. The negativity was always the worst; it is hard to train with guys like that. After a few runs, you just parted ways.

But the amazing thing is that I have so many training partners who I have run with since the 1990s and we still all enjoy running together. None of us are perfectly suited but we all compromise of the pace, mileage, and workouts because it is so nice to have other people who share the same outlook on life and love of the sport.

In fact, time with my training partners is one of the things I love most about running.

Do we all have runners like this who we train with:

• College/Club Buddy - You've run together for +20 years and somehow your pace always still aligns perfectly. No matter how your training is going, you can always run with this guy.
  
• The Workhorse - He's better than you but for some reason he likes training with you. He's totally fine leading all the intervals and doing more than his share of the work to help everyone hit their splits. He's like the perfect training partner because he can pace you to anything you want to run. You need someone to run 70s, he's your guy. You need a pacer for a training half-marathon you want to do, he's your guy.
• D1 Boss - He might be injured or old now, but he comes from a program where every run turned into a race and nobody was able to talk during the last mile because they were hammering. But if he was his team's boss then, he still picks the pace and the route on your runs today (even if he is out of shape).
• The Story-Teller - This guy could do 20 miles a day and never runs out of stories. He has trained with everyone, raced everywhere, and can keep up a string of stories even on the uphills. Weirdly enough, the stories get better and better each time you hear them over the years.
• Former Pro - He's way too fast for you, even in his retirement. But on his easy days you can sort of tempo along with him and listen to his stories about guys like Ritz and Tegenkamp and Goucher. You will be hurting for a week each time you run with him but it is totally worth it.
• Late Bloomer - He didn't run in college, but is crushing it as a master runner. He has no decade-old overuse injuries and is setting PRs in his 40s. You are happy for him (because he is so positive and so in love with the sport) but you are also jealous as hell.
• The Nice Weirdo - He's a nice guy but he wears 2" split-side shorts and compression sleeves with a singlet on a freezing day. He wears wraparound Oakley's with mirrored lenses when it isn't even sunny out. He always knew too much about Jordan Hasay and Grace Ping's PRs, but not in bad way.
• Non-Runner Runner - Neighborhood guy who plays soccer twice a week and takes a couple days off but he's actually pretty fit and can do your easy runs with you. And on days when you are tired from a big training block, he looks way fresher. Makes you doubt the value of your "no-days off" philosophy

Ruxton Towers XC wrote:

You are not 100% wrong, even though you are getting downvoted a lot. Some people are lousy training partners.

There are people who I have run with over the years who just weren't worth it. They were either annoying or negative or whatever. The negativity was always the worst; it is hard to train with guys like that. After a few runs, you just parted ways.

But the amazing thing is that I have so many training partners who I have run with since the 1990s and we still all enjoy running together. None of us are perfectly suited but we all compromise of the pace, mileage, and workouts because it is so nice to have other people who share the same outlook on life and love of the sport.

In fact, time with my training partners is one of the things I love most about running.

Do we all have runners like this who we train with:

• College/Club Buddy - You've run together for +20 years and somehow your pace always still aligns perfectly. No matter how your training is going, you can always run with this guy.
  
• The Workhorse - He's better than you but for some reason he likes training with you. He's totally fine leading all the intervals and doing more than his share of the work to help everyone hit their splits. He's like the perfect training partner because he can pace you to anything you want to run. You need someone to run 70s, he's your guy. You need a pacer for a training half-marathon you want to do, he's your guy.
• D1 Boss - He might be injured or old now, but he comes from a program where every run turned into a race and nobody was able to talk during the last mile because they were hammering. But if he was his team's boss then, he still picks the pace and the route on your runs today (even if he is out of shape).
• The Story-Teller - This guy could do 20 miles a day and never runs out of stories. He has trained with everyone, raced everywhere, and can keep up a string of stories even on the uphills. Weirdly enough, the stories get better and better each time you hear them over the years.
• Former Pro - He's way too fast for you, even in his retirement. But on his easy days you can sort of tempo along with him and listen to his stories about guys like Ritz and Tegenkamp and Goucher. You will be hurting for a week each time you run with him but it is totally worth it.
• Late Bloomer - He didn't run in college, but is crushing it as a master runner. He has no decade-old overuse injuries and is setting PRs in his 40s. You are happy for him (because he is so positive and so in love with the sport) but you are also jealous as hell.
• The Nice Weirdo - He's a nice guy but he wears 2" split-side shorts and compression sleeves with a singlet on a freezing day. He wears wraparound Oakley's with mirrored lenses when it isn't even sunny out. He always knew too much about Jordan Hasay and Grace Ping's PRs, but not in bad way.
• Non-Runner Runner - Neighborhood guy who plays soccer twice a week and takes a couple days off but he's actually pretty fit and can do your easy runs with you. And on days when you are tired from a big training block, he looks way fresher. Makes you doubt the value of your "no-days off" philosophy