Running Partner

I may have an offer to run with someone.  It’s kind of exciting.  And it makes me nervous.

So on facebook, one of the girls mentioned she was training for a thanksgiving day marathon.  I commented that I had thought about it (well, the half, that is), along with 2 other half-marathons that occur within the month before thanksgiving (one Halloween weekend, the other one the weekend after that).  I had told myself I’d start trying to ramp up into shape in June, and then decide the beginning of July if I wanted to run any of these.  I figured that would give me 4 months until the Halloween half – plus I have to factor in a week-10 day vacation in that time frame where I’m probably not doing any running.  However, if I do anything, it will only be a half – I am being realistic and don’t want to do a full marathon at this time.

So on facebook, the girl said she was going her long runs on Friday mornings – which works for me since I’m an early morning exerciser.  But here’s the thing – I have no idea what distance she’s up to nor do I know how fast she runs.  I don’t want to hold her back at all – but what if she’s way speedier than I am???  That scares me.  But, it could get my tush into shape if I keep up with her, right?!  I know I run faster during races (ok, like 5k races, that is) and probably don’t push myself as much when I run by myself.  And what if she’s already doing 7-8 miles, where I haven’t run that far since the half?  I was going to do 5 miles today, but came in a little under that – it was hot, I caught a light almost at the end, my stomach was starting to bother me.  I haven’t plugged it in to see how fast I went or the exact distance.

The nice thing about running w/her is that we’re neighbors, so we can just leave from our houses together.  The other thing that I just realized is that I walk the first .3-.4 miles when I run from the house – I use it as my warm-up, plus, I don’t want to start my run going up hill!!!  What if she wants to start running straight from the house?  I never run that hill when I’m just starting out.  It could make for a looooong run, starting off out of breath.  It could also make me stronger & better, if I do it more often!

On the other hand, it would be nice to have a running partner – someone to push me, someone to go out on long runs with.  Ah – the dilemma.  I think I should contact her first to see where she is, distance & speed-wise, and then decide on it.