Solo Running is for My Sanity
Running alone has become a luxury where I can finally have time to myself to be away from the busyness of life
In high school, running as a group was all I knew when it came to training for races. Back then, I was a year-round runner, with cross-country in the fall, then winter and spring track following shortly after. And once summer hit, the cycle started all over again and I was back to training for cross country.
Despite its appearance of inherently being an individualistic sport, running — at least in the lens of cross country and track — was still very much a team sport. Yes, each person’s finish time was specific to them, however, the collective team’s finish time mattered.
And the people I was surrounded with throughout my seasons of training during cross country and track often remained the same, which helped foster a sense of community. Being a part of a team created an intense bond between us that I’m fortunate to have had as a young runner.
Every aspect of training was done together — long runs, speed workouts, hill workouts, cross-training, etc.
Flash forward to nearly twenty years later and that’s no longer the case.
