You might know that I love to run. I've run three half marathons and several 5Ks over the last few years. I was never much of a runner until after I had surgery for a torn ACL about five years ago. Through the physical therapy that followed, I learned that running is, contrary to popular belief, not necessarily terrible for the knees when practiced at appropriate distances and speeds and with proper form, but should actually help to keep muscles, ligaments and tendons strong to support your joints.
Obligatory selfie after finishing my first half marathon in Syracuse, October 2013
Jack
Sofi, in her natural habitat
Jack definitely has the energy and athleticism to go the distance, but he has actually turned out to be a pretty terrible running buddy, mainly due to his leash aggression toward strange dogs, the likes of which aren't always easy to predict on a running route. One particular incident during which he lost his mind at the sudden appearance of a dog he didn't know wound up with me sprawled in the road at the bottom of a hill - obviously not ideal for, you know, not getting hit by a car and dying. In his defense, he did pretty well when we lived and ran in Baltimore, as there were very few other dogs on the sidewalks near us, but then there were factors like the light rail trains and buses that would cause him to occasionally stop and cower behind my knees.
But all that aside - how could you not love that face?
I mean really.
Anyway, I love running. Jack does not. My husband does not. Our other pup, Oscar (pictured below), also loves running, but is 11 and has had far too many reconstructive surgeries to ask that of him anymore. So what's a girl to do, when she lives in Minnesota, where it's cold and snowy, and she hates treadmills, of which her townhouse community's gym offers only two anyway? Why, look up running clubs, of course!
Oscar is the neediest dog I have ever met, but he's pretty darn good on leash. If he was a little younger, he'd definitely be the best running buddy my household has to offer.
I've sworn off running any more races until 2017 in a promise to my husband, as training for my most recent half marathon was a super stretch on our time and relationship budget (though also combined with planning our wedding and for moving to MN from South Carolina). I did go for a quick, necessary evil treadmill jog the other day and loathed most of it, partially because I haven't run since my last half marathon in November and partially because treadmills are just horrible, but, as is often the case with running and any other exercise, loved the feeling of having it done. So, I'm ready to get back into recreational running as a way to meet new people in our new home and, of course, be fitter (which you may remember from my last post is a New Year's resolution before bringing my horse up to MN as well).
Yesterday morning, I stumbled upon the Runner's World tweet below, on ways to refresh one's running routine. The article itself is a few years old, but it links to a running club finder and, while finding clubs in my area has been on my mind since we moved, I figured this was my prompt to actually get it done. I've also participated in several running groups in the past, but discovered those mainly by chance versus a dedicated search, so this particular tool is new to me.
I do wish the site had an option for searching by zip code, but thankfully the gods of Google make it easy enough to determine the distance from home. Plus, some of the links are broken, but a quick search usually still got me where I needed to be. And, thanks to the glory of the Internet, finding one club often led to another and another and another.
The main criteria I'm looking for in a running group are:If your running is feeling stale, try these simple tips to get rejuvenated.https://t.co/Qt9YnUWvO2 pic.twitter.com/2U8MZzN0JV— Runner's World (@runnersworld) February 3, 2016
- Reasonable driving distance from home. I'm not trying to drive more than about 20 minutes each way on a regular basis. The downtown Minneapolis clubs are all going to be right around 30, which might be okay every now and then, but I'm focusing my search on the St. Paul side of things.
- Meeting schedule. Does the group meet morning or afternoon? I could go for either, but I'd like to avoid any meeting times too close to rush hours. How many times per week? What is the expectation for attendance?
- Speed groups. Does the group welcome a variety of paces? I've been known to average a 9:15 mile during my best half marathon and 12:30 at my worst. I'm fairly average as far as running goes, so I won't be attempting to keep up with super fit, super fast runners who are trying to PR at Boston or anything like that.
- Social events outside of group runs. Part of my motivation for joining a running club is to make new friends. While having a conversation during a run is totally possible and usually encouraged, talking to people while you're not huffing and puffing and drenched in sweat is a nice change of pace.
- Fees. Of course, I'd prefer a free club, but you get what you pay for, so I'm open to a reasonable yearly or monthly fee.
- Cottage Grove Random Runners - This one is only about 15 minutes from home. I just received confirmation of joining their Facebook group, which appears to be fairly active and they even have a run this evening, though I'm not sure I'm ready to go quite yet. I can't tell exactly from the page if there is a set schedule, but perhaps over the next several weeks that will become clearer. A very kind member of the group did just message me to say that runs are usually on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
- The Running Room has a store literally just down the road from us, offering runs on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 8:30 a.m. They even post their routes, ranging from ~5K to ~15K, on their website, which is an added bonus. I've emailed them to verify the schedule and see what kind of turnout they get through the winter.
- Twin Cities Running Club - This group is $25/year, which is very reasonable, and offers group runs in a variety of locations anywhere from 20 minutes to 45 minutes away. The schedule looks like Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 8 a.m. I've contacted them to find out about distances, paces, etc. Their website also lists the availability of social events, but I don't see any additional detail about those, so not sure what all they would entail.
- I also really like the looks of the Calhoun Beach Running Club, what with the extensive website and various training programs they offer, but they meet on the opposite side of Minneapolis and thus is too far to justify their initiation fee and monthly membership.
So, there we have it! Minneapolis-St. Paul has ranked near the top of several recent "fittest cities" lists, so I'm not surprised to discover so many choices to be had here. These are just a few that have jumped out at me so far and I can't wait to hit the roads with some new friends - as soon as I manage to string a couple miles together again, most likely via, unfortunately, the treadmill.
xoxo,
Natalyn
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