Running Alone

For over the last year, Andrew and I have run together about 3x per week, typically M, W, F. We started out going a bit over 3 miles and then ramped it up to 5. We have been steadily at 5 miles per run since fall of 2020.

Andrew has either been booked or out of town since early August, so I have been running alone since 4 August. Our conversations are seldom deep, but I am amazed at how much easier it is to run with someone rather than alone.

I have been running pretty steadily since early 1976, I think. Much of that time I ran with buddies. Roger B was my first regular running buddy, then Mike B, then Kirk C and others at UGA. Once I got to UA, I ran mostly with my graduate students, but sometimes with colleagues. Matt G and I ran many a mile together, and Yang Z ran with us often. My old buddy Wojtek was a colleague and one of my all-time most interesting running buddies.

Once I retired, I was relegated mostly to running alone, so it has been great to have Andrew to chat with as we huff and puff up and down hills. He got here in March of 2020 just as COVID was ravaging the USA.

I am a bit surprised to see that I am running slower when I go by myself. It is quite hot out, so that slows me some. I think too, the lack of distraction causes me to focus more on the physical challenges of running and that is the big issue.

Running alone makes scheduling easier--but beyond that there are no apparent advantages.

Well, back to the loneliness of the long-distance runner.