We've been in our current home just over 12 months now...we know most of our neighbours by sight, a couple of them by name but because of the nature of the street, we've been able to keep to ourselves as much as we want to.
We live in a "cul-de-sac", with our three acres being at the very end of it and our driveway is fairly steep, so in fact we are down in the valley and are the most secluded property in our street.
There is a couple who live about 4 doors up from us and they have a little four year old girl. They seem nice enough and we sometimes run into them at the coffee shop and sometimes stop for a quick chat if they're out in their yard when we walk or drive past...
The other day I posted on FB that I'd started C25K...I haven't been on FB long, and I honestly use it to have some fun - no negativity or bitchiness allowed, the minute it gets there I'm out...
Michael ran into her and her husband the other day and she asked him what C25K was...Michael explained, and she immediately said "Tell Sandra I want to run too...ask her can I do C25K with her..."
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I don't know why, but this sent me into a total spin...I am loving my C25K time...I just put my earphones in, shuffle my C25K playlist and off I go, doing as I'm told and feeling such a sense of achievement. It's becoming a little bit of time that I really look forward to and somehow, the thought of sharing it with someone else makes me uncomfortable...
If you remember, earlier in the year I tried running with a "buddy", but then my foot pain flared up and when I took time off to get that fixed, she moved on and is now running fun runs all over the place...
I proved then that it doesn't work learning to run with someone else - we are all going to take a different time to get there. Add to that the fact that I literally run "on impluse"...I know *which* days I'm going to run, but then it's usually a case of finding a free hour during the day, grabbing my stuff and heading to the gym, which brings me to another thing - I have been running on the treadmill. Sure, my aim is to some day hit the trails or the pavement but for now, the treadmill suits me fine...how am I supposed to run *with* this woman on treadmills...?
So now I'm feeling all kinds of nasty and my *inner Sandra Dee* is pointing her finger at me and telling me that I'm looking for too many excuses not to include Kim in my C25K and that I should be nice...because everyone expects me to be "Sandra D"...
I'd love to hear from you runners, past and present...did running or learning to run work better for you with someone or is running indeed a lone sport...?
Oooh here is my 2cents worth (and its a very strong opinion). For me running is definitely a lone sport and I only know of seasoned runners that run together as their ability, drive and commitment is closely matched. For those of us who aren't great runners its far more enjoyable to know we can go at our own pace without pressure to keep up, adjust to another person's pace or *gasp* be sociable while running.
ReplyDeleteI would refuse the offer on the basis that you cant commit to a regular time due to work and family pressures and that you're a treadmill runner anyway. You could make it sound like you were doing her a disservice if you called at short notice to join you for a treadmill run.
Its not about being nasty or nice. Its about what can and cant work and being fair to your friend.
Hope that helps.
M
Magda - Thank you for your honest and strong opinion...I suspected that might be the case for you. I don't know why I've turned it into a battle of being nice or being nasty...I've decided if she says any more about running, I'll suggest she downloads the C25K app I've got and explain that seeing as I'm a little bit ahead of her, she'd be better off starting on her own - plus your very logical suggestions as well. xx
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