The Running Partner

Running is often seen as a solitary activity, a time for personal thoughts. However, it doesn't have to be. Whether you're training for a marathon, aiming to improve your ACFT score, or simply enjoying the social aspect of running, having a running partner can enhance your experience and progress in numerous ways. And getting some help with something that is not always fun, is a way to make it more fun, and finally help you become a better runner.

Below, we’ll discuss additional benefits of running with a partner.

Motivation and Accountability

One of the most significant benefits of having a running partner is the motivation and accountability they provide. Knowing that someone is counting on you to show up for a run can be a powerful motivator, especially on days when your own motivation isn't there (we all know that feeling). A running partner can:

Increase Accountability: When a friend is counting on you showing up on a certain day and time, you’re going to feel pressure to go. Not only will you let them down if you don’t go, but you’ll also likely hear about it with some nasty texts. This can create consistency, even if its forced at first. Here, peer pressure is good.

Provide Encouragement: As you train, you’re both going through many of the same highs and lows. That naturally facilitates an environment of encouragement for one another. You’re both directly and indirectly helping the other improve.

Improved Performance and Efficiency

Running with a partner can lead to improvements in performance and efficiency:

Pushing Limits: Partners often challenge each other to push harder and achieve new personal bests. This too is achieved directly as you talk to each other, and indirectly, as you feel the pressure of wanting to compete with / keep up with your partner.
Pace Regulation: Partners can help maintain a steady pace, preventing you from starting too fast or slowing down too soon. Many runners have trouble sticking to their longer distance pacing (typically slower than we expect), and having a partner also checking his watch can help.
Variety in Workouts: Partners can introduce new routes, intervals, or cross-training activities, adding variety to your workouts and preventing boredom. They may also just have new ideas or make the same old workouts feel different. All of this can keep you interested in running.

Social Connection and Mental Well-Being

Running with a partner fosters social connection and enhances mental well-being. If you’ve consistently run with a partner before, you know how true this can be:

Social Interaction: Sharing experiences and conversations during runs strengthens friendships and creates lasting bonds. It can also be an enjoyable activity to do with friends when you’re looking for something to do beside go out to eat and drink. And because most of your longer runs should be at a pace in which you can have a conversation, a long run is a great time to talk with your partner.
Stress Relief: Running together provides an outlet for stress and promotes mental clarity and relaxation.
Sense of Community: Joining running clubs or groups with partners fosters a sense of community and belonging. Many clubs are forming around military bases that can provide these benefits. Due to our constant movement through the military, it can be hard to make friends, especially friends outside of the people we work directly with. Clubs can be an opportunity to expand your friendship circle.

Finding a Running Partner

Finding the right running partner can enhance your experience and maximize the benefits:

Similar Goals and Pace: Look for someone with similar fitness goals and running pace to ensure compatibility. Look around at work – who else shares your desire to become a better runner?
Reliability: Choose a partner who is committed and reliable, showing up consistently for scheduled runs. You need someone like this (and you too need to be reliable) to make this work.
Communication: Open communication ensures you're both on the same page regarding expectations, schedules, and preferences. If one of you is expecting to run every day after work and the other won’t, the dynamic won’t work.
Enjoyment: Running partners should enjoy each other's company and share a passion for running to make the experience enjoyable and fulfilling. If you don’t really like the person, they probably aren’t a good running partner for you.

If you can't find someone at work, you can drop a note in the B/G Run Club on Strava, or on our Discord community.

If you're at the Fort Liberty area, check out the Unknown Distance Running Club.

Conclusion

If you want to become a better runner, or if you're just looking for something to do, running with a partner or within a group is a great way to do it. It's an easy way to make something that isn't always fun, quite fun. Go out there and be somebody.

Blue / Green Training designs comprehensive fitness guides for military athletes. Our goal is to enable success and capture potential. Our guides include carefully designed fitness programming and explanations to help our athletes understand the concepts behind it all - something we haven't seen anywhere else. We inspire confidence in our athletes by teaching them effective physical training so they can continue their progress after our programming ends. We guarantee you'll get value from our material.

Blog related to : Blue Green Training, Military Runner, Military Running, ACFT, hybrid athlete, hybrid training

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