ISO: a running buddy

When I started to get into a daily exercise routine, shortly after we moved to Minnesota, one of the things that kept me motivated was that I had friends to work out with. For the first year, whenever the weather was good, we'd load up our kids in strollers, joggers, slings and bjorns and do a 3-4 mile walk, followed by play time at the park. The kids loved it, and since Eddie was an intern and never, ever home, it was often my only adult interaction for the whole day. Gradually, we built up to running, and trained for a half-marathon together.

Since that time, I've always tried to have a running buddy. Not necessarily someone I'd run with every day, but someone I could rely on for a run or two a week. Someone to keep me motivated. Someone to chat with when the miles get long. Someone to go to races with when your husband tells you he'll be too overwhelmed to meet you with a bunch of kids at the finish line.

Then, last year, I got pregnant. And, as chance would have it, so did two of the three girls I ran with regularly. I kept running. The other girls, like most sane pregnant women, quit running after a while. So once they were easing themselves back into running, I was already into it full-force, working on my speed. And now, eight months later, I've worked on my speed so much that I don't have running buddies anymore. I don't mean to be jerky or intimidating when I say this, but I've gotten to the point where I'm just too fast for my old running buddies. Yeah, I'll do a long run with them every once in a while, but it's not the same as it used to be. It's fun to socialize, but the running part isn't that great. It's a little bit akin to walking down the street to the mailbox with a toddler who wants to inspect every crack in the sidewalk.

So I was at a ward Girls' Night Out last night and several of the girls were talking about getting started running this year and the races they want to do. I was pushing them to do the October half-marathon, but I couldn't find anyone who would bite. I emailed another girl who I know used to run, and she said she was just getting back into it and she'd email me when she was up to speed again. I'm more than happy to cheer people along at the finish line at Race for the Cure or the Halloween 5K, and even come along for the occasional three-miler with the girls in the ward, but I really miss having someone who can match me, step for step, on the ten-miler or the twelve-miler. That's when I'd like more company than just my iPod.