Tuesday, October 27, 2009
FREE Running Clubs
THE schedule calls for three mid-week runs. So far, the Tuesday and Thursday runs have been short three-milers. The middle day, Wednesday, is longer at six miles.
You would think the weekend long runs would be toughest for scheduling, but I have to say that it's the mid-week runs that I find most challenging to fit into my daily routine of life. The 3-mile runs aren't usually a problem. It's that 6-miler.
This is when having a running club or group is most beneficial. You're all in the same boat and you always have someone to run with. An hour long run would zip by like nothing if I had simply posted when and how far I needed to go.
There are a couple of organized groups in our area that I can wholeheartedly recommend because 1) They're free. 2) They each have knowledgeable experienced marathoners who have generously helped train others to achieve their goal, and 3) They each have wonderful and friendly runners of ALL levels running at ALL hours. 4) They're crazy fun.
Temecularunners@yahoogroups.com is run by (someone correct me if I'm wrong!) Brian Harned and/or Cecilia Ticsay. They have mid-week runs as well as the usual weekend long run and they typically begin at the Baron's shopping center on Rancho California Road in Temecula. Once signed up with the yahoo group, you'll get email postings all day long from people who are looking for a partner for maybe a Friday long run or some speedwork. Lately, there seems to be a lot of buzz going on about nutrition and crossfit training at a local gym. It's supposed to create amazing results for long-distance runners. They just finished the St. George Marathon and I think many are training for Las Vegas and L.A., San Diego Rock 'n Roll, and The Carlsbad Half.
The Murrieta Running Group can be found at: meetup.com. Go to meetup.com and sign up. Then look for The Murrieta Running Group. This group has midweek 4:30 a.m. runs, 5:00 a.m. runs, speedwork, interval training and tempos. There are also scheduled midweek trail runs, most in the late afternoons. There are even night runs. There seems to be something organized any day of the week at any hour. You just look at the meetup schedule, and you can see exactly how many showed up and comments on how the run went.
I find the meetup board easier to navigate, but other than that, both groups are great and you couldn't find a nicer, more encouraging bunch of people.
I recommend signing up for both. Why not? It's FREE. Then you can shop around for what works for you. Sometimes I can't run on a Saturday morning and I need a Sunday. I sign up with whoever is running Sunday that week. OR I love that there is a group actually running the Carlsbad Marathon route for one weekend long run. I made sure to sign up for that!
All I know is there's nothing like having a group to keep me motivated. I hope this helps anyone out there looking for a local inexpensive running club.
Happy running!
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