(Well, it’s the so very awful Monday that starts out
realizing you never finished your Sunday journal writing. Sigh.)
I’ve blogged about why I joined a running club and how important
it is to me in my training, but the past few weeks I’ve been reminded about how
the social side to a club helps your mental health and wellness.
While running and training forges strong bonds with
teammates, whether it’s the high school cross country team or the local running
group, it then expands with discovering common interests away from the path or
track.
My sophomore year of high school, I’ll never forget
spaghetti dinners at different teammates’ homes and the routine of singing “Piano
Man” and “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” on the way home from meets.
When your running club often meets at bars after runs and
has the motto “Running and Shenanigans,” it is inevitable that someone will see
a poster for a concert or trivia night, and say, “hey, let’s go to this!” Next thing you know, you’re doing karaoke to
Jon Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” just because it became an earworm this
week.
On Friday, one of our members decided to enter a hula hoop
contest near my office, so I walked over and was part of a large crowd to cheer
her on. The restaurant also has a games
night, and as we waited for the contest to end, I mentioned that I have an old
set of Axis & Allies, so we agreed to meet at one of these games nights to
play.
Saturday night was wild and crazy and fun and bonding, just
as much as that awful speed workout or that time someone got lost on the trail
run. We started with pedicures. Normally, I don’t spend money on a luxury
like a pedicure, but my feet, especially my toes, have survived two seasons of
marathon training, plus a half marathon.
My nails have the marks of being bounced around running shoes for miles
and miles, to the point where I’m having trouble keeping them trimmed and pain
free. So it was time to give my feet some
professional attention.
Not only was the pedicure worth every penny, but the time
spent with the other girls was just as valuable. I have wonderful friends, but the closest one
lives over an hour drive away, so I’ve been craving a local social life, local
girlfriends for quite some time. Hopefully
the time spent with the other girls will help open doors to having local
friends.
However, I may need to get a second job just to cover my
social life. Our club does road trips,
and in November, they are going to the Rock & Roll Marathon in Las
Vegas. I discovered that there is a five
hour time limit (remember, my PR is 5:39), but it seems like exactly the push I
need to work hard over the summer. Plus,
Vegas. I need to ask for the time off of
work, but once I have, I’m buying my bib.
In the meantime, is it wrong that I’ve already picked out my
song for the next Karaoke night?
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