Why I Joined a Run Club

When I first started running, it was a solely solitary pursuit. On occasion, Tim would run with me, but I was so slow that it was painful for him to run with me. I'd strap on my $11 sneakers from Steve and Barry's (remember that place?), don my yoga pants from Old Navy and top it off with a giant cotton Miller Lite shirt I won at a bar.
I think went on my jaunt around the neighborhood. It took me longer to get ready and talk myself into running than the actual act of running. I didn't know how far I was going, nor how fast. I prayed my shoe would come untied so I had an excuse to stop, and looked for houses I could call my husband from to pick me up.

Our first 5K - OctoberFast in Itasca

I've come a long way since then, but my first marathon training cycle was also a solo pursuit. Every weekend, I got up at 4 a.m. to run by myself in the dark and beat the heat. It was a scorcher of a summer and when I finished my runs around breakfast time, I would be so soaked with sweat that my Garmin wouldn't turn off - my fingertips were too wet to use the touch screen.

My 4 a.m. 15 miler last summer

I was ready for a change this year. I started running with the Western Cook Running Club last year on occasion, and decided I might as well not be a hermit on a treadmill all winter and get out there. I'm so glad I did. Here's what I've gotten out of running with a club:

1. PRs - I'm faster than ever before.

2. A better palate. This club knows its brews.

3. Acceptance. There are certain thing only other runners understand ... like this apparel choice.

Making this ski mask look hot (pun intended)

4. Partners in crime. How else would I have conned people into running 26 one-mile circles one state over?

5. A reason to beat the blerch. Without a group, I likely would have never left the treadmill all winter. Because every weekend, the weather was just like this: