During my interview for the Real Runners Virtual Summit hosted by Katie Heddleston which starts on Monday, I talked about running longevity and how my running has changed as I’ve gotten older. We discussed running for fitness versus training to race at a locally competitive level and what younger runners can do to ensure a long running career. During our conversation, Katie zeroed in on three of my sentences, making quotes for me to share… 

  • “Start now and listen to your body. Don’t just pound the pavement for the sake of the miles,” became the prompt for me to write my post, Avoid Derailment – Listen To Your Body.
  • “I’ve always referred to my running as a party on the trail. It’s my girlfriend time. There are friends I don’t ever get to see except on the trail,” perfectly described a recent run with friends that I recapped in a post I titled, A Party On The Trail.
  • “If you know somebody is going to be out on the cold windy corner waiting for you, you get yourself out there, so you don’t leave them standing high and dry,” will be the focus of today’s post.

We would love to have you join us for the summit, so if you’re interested, please click here to register today! And so you’re not registering blindly, you can check out this sneak preview to see just what the summit is going to be like!

Now, on to today’s topic…

 

One of the things I love about running with friends is the accountability factor, especially since we run so early in the mornings. While snuggled warmly in my comfy bed, it’s easy to come up with 101 excuses why I can sleep in and skip the morning’s run. Except I can’t, not if I’m meeting a friend for a run…

When a friend is also pulling herself out of bed with the plan to meet me for a run, not showing up would be quite rude. Unless the weather takes a nasty unexpected turn overnight or one of us gets sick (in that case we text to let everyone know), my friends and I are there for each other on our scheduled mornings. If we say we’ll be there, we’ll be there.

Just like the mailman’s creed, we’ll be there…

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”

Showing up for a run is especially important when there’s only one other friend meeting up. Skipping out on a two-person run leaves my friend running alone in the dark, a dangerous proposition for a woman. Also, let’s face it, misery loves company and if we happen to be tired and cranky, having a friend to commiserate with, or better yet, cheer us up is huge at 5:30 AM.

I can’t tell you how many times my friends and I have said to each other, if I weren’t meeting you this morning, I wouldn’t have gotten out of bed. It’s a two way street – you know they’re counting on you while you’re counting on them. So don’t leave them standing high and dry, and hopefully, they’ll return the favor!

 

I know that you’re dying to find out who won the free registration ticket to the Real Runners Virtual Summit! It was such a difficult decision for me because all of the entrants wrote such sincere and heartfelt reasons why they would like to attend. Based on the comments, I wanted to give a free pass to everyone, but since Katie might frown upon that, I had to resort to using a random number generator to pick just one winner. Congratulations, Savanah, on winning! I hope you enjoy the summit and find the information to be very useful. I will be contacting you via email to work out the details later today.

If you had your heart set on winning, but weren’t selected, you can still register by clicking here.

 

  • Questions:
  • Do you have running or workout friends to help hold you accountable?
  • What weather conditions will keep you inside and off the trail? ~ Ice and high winds for me…
  • Are you going to join us for the Real Runners Virtual Summit?