Adding Accountability by Joining My Neighborhood Running Group

This week, I went running with one of my clients in Dallas. I was really nervous about how it would go, because my client was just getting back into running and he was concerned that I’d be a lot faster than him. But we had a great time, and I seemed to pass the “running buddy test”, because we’re now planning to go twice a week and get into a routine. I’m so excited!

My client had told me that he thought we could run every Tuesday and Thursday, which would then allow him a day of recovery before he did a long run on Saturdays. “Perfect,” I thought, “I’ll get on the same schedule myself.” But when I woke up this morning and it was gray and cold (only 45 degrees!), I bailed on the run in favor of some yard work. My lawn is in need of some serious de-thatching, and I bought a rake on Thursday night so I could start the process. It’s hard work, but I’ve filled an entire trash can with dead grass already, so clearly I was long overdue!

After 90 minutes or so of de-thatching, my friend Heather pulled up to my house. I had totally lost track of time, and it was 8am already – time for us to head out to my neighborhood garage sale! I was a little bummed that it was so cold and gray this year for it, but with big mugs of coffee in hand, we were able to keep warm as we scoured the ‘hood for bargains. I pretty quickly found my first “treasure” – an almost-brand-new stainless steel mini fridge for just $20! That will make it a lot easier for me to use my walk-out basement for entertaining, since I can keep cold drinks handy. I am pretty psyched 🙂

Soon after that find, my friend Elizabeth and her boyfriend joined us, and we ended up at a house on the next street over. In addition to all the usual stuff for sale, they had a table with some information about Relay for Life – an event and cause I love. I wanted to donate, but asked the homeowner for the group name so that I could donate online and get a receipt for my taxes. He said that it was the Superior Running Club. What?! I didn’t know there was such a thing! Turns out that they run every Saturday starting somewhere right in the neighborhood at 8am, which is perfect. I got really excited, and ended up giving him my email so that I could get on the email list.

Lately, I have been really into group fitness classes – they provide a huge amount of accountability because I know I’ll be charged for no-showing. Plus, once I get to the workout, I don’t want to half-ass it (either by not going as long or as hard) when others are there. So joining a neighborhood running club sounds like the perfect way to give me some accountability for running on Saturday mornings. (Plus, I really don’t know many of my neighbors except for the ones immediately around me – I’d love to make more friends in the neighborhood.) Sure, going with a group means I have less control over where I go and when, but right now I just need extra incentive to get out there when I’m otherwise tempted to laze around the house.

I can’t wait for next Saturday!