In this day and age, with work schedules and family commitments it becomes difficult to train with a group or partner. Some people only have the early morning, others have lunch breaks to train and then there are the afternoon or evening runs after work. I personally prefer to train after work at about 4pm as I can't seem to get up early enough in the mornings to train.
With everyone's schedule being so vast, it means that we are left to train on our own. This is hard when you feel unmotivated - there is no one depending on you if you skip a session and often every excuse in the book is used as to why you 'can't' train - its too hot, you feel sore, you had a big lunch etc. There is also the factor that you can't find anyone on the same program as you, if you using a 'virtual' coach.
Training in groups can be fun and motivating. You meet new people and if you miss sessions people will often ask where you were, making you very much accountable. Training in a group is also a great marker for improvements - you are closer in times to people or you are now ahead of someone who you haven't been ahead of before. There are always people to 'catch' and so you push harder. There are also always people to motivate and push you, shouting encouragement.
So what is the downside of 'group' training? Personally for me, its means never being able to pace yourself probably. If you head into a race with a given time, chances are you are just going to run to keep with a specific person or group, instead of sticking to pace. This often then leads to burn-out and a poor race result and experience.
As I have a specific training program, I find that I have to train alone. Mentally it is hard, to judge pace without someone ahead or behind you, to motivate yourself to go out there and train. I recently had a 5km Time Trial to do as part of my 3 month program. The 2 previous Time Trials were on a Thursday where I ran my club Time Trial. This meant I ran with people, which made it easier to stay with people and push if they were getting away from me. This last Time Trial was on a Sunday, which meant I had to do it alone, I had to rely on myself and hold myself accountable for my time. And you know what? I improved my time by over 1 minute from my previous Time Trial and I felt I still had the energy to go faster and longer.
So why train alone? I find that when I train alone I feel less stressed - I get stressed easily if I am having a bad day and cannot keep with someone. It sort of annoys me if I am pushing and the person I am running with is just happily running along, not straining. It also makes you mentally stronger and you learn to trust yourself and know that you alone can run a certain pace. Going in to a race where there are other people, it makes you more confident and you know you relying on yourself and not another person to pace you. It is also great therapy, to just get out there, be by yourself, clear your head and be alone with your thoughts - its the perfect 'me time' if you live a busy lifestyle. It does get lonely though, no one to talk to or encourage you, so if this is what you rely on then training alone is not for you.
I do think its a personal preference, some people just simply cannot train alone, whilst others just cannot train with other people. Sometimes you need to do track work with a group and then long runs alone or vice versa. I would recommend however training solo every so often as this is how we understand ourselves, our bodies and what we are capable of.
And remember, your only competition is yourself, not other people, but the person you were yesterday.
With everyone's schedule being so vast, it means that we are left to train on our own. This is hard when you feel unmotivated - there is no one depending on you if you skip a session and often every excuse in the book is used as to why you 'can't' train - its too hot, you feel sore, you had a big lunch etc. There is also the factor that you can't find anyone on the same program as you, if you using a 'virtual' coach.
Training in groups can be fun and motivating. You meet new people and if you miss sessions people will often ask where you were, making you very much accountable. Training in a group is also a great marker for improvements - you are closer in times to people or you are now ahead of someone who you haven't been ahead of before. There are always people to 'catch' and so you push harder. There are also always people to motivate and push you, shouting encouragement.
So what is the downside of 'group' training? Personally for me, its means never being able to pace yourself probably. If you head into a race with a given time, chances are you are just going to run to keep with a specific person or group, instead of sticking to pace. This often then leads to burn-out and a poor race result and experience.
As I have a specific training program, I find that I have to train alone. Mentally it is hard, to judge pace without someone ahead or behind you, to motivate yourself to go out there and train. I recently had a 5km Time Trial to do as part of my 3 month program. The 2 previous Time Trials were on a Thursday where I ran my club Time Trial. This meant I ran with people, which made it easier to stay with people and push if they were getting away from me. This last Time Trial was on a Sunday, which meant I had to do it alone, I had to rely on myself and hold myself accountable for my time. And you know what? I improved my time by over 1 minute from my previous Time Trial and I felt I still had the energy to go faster and longer.
So why train alone? I find that when I train alone I feel less stressed - I get stressed easily if I am having a bad day and cannot keep with someone. It sort of annoys me if I am pushing and the person I am running with is just happily running along, not straining. It also makes you mentally stronger and you learn to trust yourself and know that you alone can run a certain pace. Going in to a race where there are other people, it makes you more confident and you know you relying on yourself and not another person to pace you. It is also great therapy, to just get out there, be by yourself, clear your head and be alone with your thoughts - its the perfect 'me time' if you live a busy lifestyle. It does get lonely though, no one to talk to or encourage you, so if this is what you rely on then training alone is not for you.
I do think its a personal preference, some people just simply cannot train alone, whilst others just cannot train with other people. Sometimes you need to do track work with a group and then long runs alone or vice versa. I would recommend however training solo every so often as this is how we understand ourselves, our bodies and what we are capable of.
And remember, your only competition is yourself, not other people, but the person you were yesterday.
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