Would you like me if I weren’t a runner?

~ Chocolaterunsjudy

Would you be my friend if we weren't runners-

I’m not sure if it’s because I no longer work, or because it’s just my nature, but I tend to think about odd questions. A lot. In fact, one of the reasons I enjoy running is that it actually helps me turn my brain off, especially if I’m running hard — then I’m usually not thinking about much at all.

The  Tuesdays on the Run linkup subject for today is what I wrote about last week: advice I’d tell my new runner self. Last week’s subject: sum up your running in one word: for me, that word would be consistent.

I wasn’t sick this winter (knocks on wood). We didn’t get much snow — in fact, April has been the snowiest month of 2016! My half is a bit over a month from now, and I’ve run three 9 mile long runs and two 10 mile long runs. That’s a good feeling.

I’ve been able to follow the training plan I made for myself, loosely based on a training plan I did last year training for a spring half at approximately the same time. Sure, I’m once again fighting some nagging little injuries, but that’s all they are — nagging little injures.

So consistent it is. And that’a good thing. Sometimes I think that’s everything when it comes to running!

So let’s get to what I happen to be thinking about lately, even if it’s Tuesday, not Thursday.

Running brings together all kinds of people
I have moved to four different states since I graduated from college (many years ago). Each time was to a city where I knew no one. Each time, eventually, I made friends.

I took up running with this last move. Is it any wonder that all my friends are runners?

I sometimes wonder if I would be friends with some of my runner friends if we didn’t have running in common. Usually I find that we have something other than running in common, too — for instance, have you ever noticed that most runners seem to be animal lovers? Or maybe I just gravitate towards the runners who are animal lovers.

Oftentimes, as we get to know each other, we learn other interests that we have in common. But oftentimes we’re extremely different people, too, and I wonder, if we didn’t have running, the thing that brought us together in the first place, would you have ever looked past my shy exterior and our differences and become my friend? Or is it simply that running attracts a certain type of person?

Do you ever wonder if you’d be friends with the same people if you didn’t run?
How many of your friends run?
Tuesdays on the Run

I’m linking up today with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.

33 thoughts on “Would you like me if I weren’t a runner?”

    1. I am no longer in touch with my friends in MD (there were only a few at work — most like some of them are gone, as they were just about retirement age 30 years ago!, but you never know). Except for my 2 high school friends who moved down there about half a year after I did, and still live there.

      I was friendly with some of the people I worked with in VT, but not close, and again, have had no contacts for years.

      I am in touch with some of my TX friends via FB, but my closest one just gave me the cold shoulder for no known reason not long before we moved.

      Bottom line? I just have to keep making new friends!

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  3. I really like this question. I have no running friends who live nearby, and I infrequently socialize only with three who live an hour away, but when we are together we a truly bonded and I believe when my running days are over—they are all at least a generation younger than I—we will still be friends.

    I have many friends who lives hundreds, even thousands of miles away. Beyond running, they are nice people, women and men both, and I believe we could be friends even if running were not in the picture.

    I would love to have running friends close by, but in the four years I’ve been running, that has not happened. The closest I’ve come is this year I am 5K training with a guidance counselor in our office and a teacher in the academy. We don’t run together but we are almost at the same place in training so there’s a lot of in person encouragement going on. Both are definitely my friends on another level.

    This is a topic that could go on for hours…..but I’ll stop here.

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    1. Connie, it has taken me YEARS to find my local running friends, so you never know. Why don’t you meet up with your guidance counselor friend? Try suggesting it — you never know!

      I have many online friends too (obviously!) and when we get to meet in person it’s always a pleasure.

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  4. I started running after I met my circle of friends, but I have the same thoughts if I didn’t like soccer and hockey. Would I be friends with them, or would I be in a different circle of friends? Sports is a great way to meet people.

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    1. I guess any shared interest is a great way to meet people!

      Although, for instance, when I lived in TX, I took up decorative painting. I joined a local group. I went for quite some time, as it kept me painting (which I no longer do — at least not right now) — and yet I never made any friends in the group.

      I do think there’s something about running, specifically, because you can really get to know someone when you run with them for many miles (damn, I should have written about that in my post!) — even complete strangers!

      I have to assume playing a team sport is similar; I’ve never really done much team sports. I was on a swim team as a young child (they took anyone!) and I used to bowl in a league, but the team was made up of friends). That’s the closest I’ve ever been to team sports — I’m not athletic!

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  5. I think the real question is that if you stopped running tomorrow, would you still socialize with your running “friends?”

    I found that I had a lot of friends at work but now that I’ve moved on, I only see just a few. So they weren’t really my friends, just people I worked with, Same with tennis. Once I stopped playing competitively, I stopped seeing a lot of my “friends.” So the people I call tennis friends are ones that I met through tennis but I don’t ever play with anymore. We party together and enjoy each others’ company. They are my real friends.

    So the same with running, many I just run with and aren’t really “friends” because I don’t see them outside of running.

    Hopefully, some will remain friends, like you. We may not run forever.

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    1. The funny thing is — thinking about our friendship (although not JUST you) is why I wrote this part.

      Would we be friends if we’d just met through another avenue? If we worked together? We have a lot of similarities, but we’re really different people too — of course, that’s what some of the best friendships are made of!

      I do hope to run forever. 🙂 Hey, some people do it!

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      1. I agree. My best friend (from college) whom I see every week couldn’t be more different from me. But we chat about everything, we support each other’s different interests and we have each other’s back.

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    1. Oh I agree, once you get your running friends you become friends. But the question remains: would you have become friends had you not met via running?

      Hey, what can I say — my mind can be pretty weird at times. 🙂

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  7. Most of my friends are not runners. And the ones who are, I think I would have been friends with anyway because we have other interests in common as well.

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  8. What a great topic!! I have many friends I’ve met through running but we remain friends regardless of running. I’ve also met people who I don’t like personally but can spend time with if we’re in a running situation. But I’ve found that if I don’t like a person, running can’t change that.

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    1. Definitely true — there are a few people I don’t really like running with that much.

      I think once you become a friend via running, of course you’ll remain friends. But would you have become friends if your paths crossed and you didn’t have running in common?

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  10. Very thought-provoking! I never realized until you mentioned it that runners do tend to be animal lovers! I am a HUGE animal lover and most of my runner friends have pets, love pets, or work with animals. I always think it’s amazing how I can meet a random runner and have an instant connection where we can talk for hours… but when I meet someone who isn’t a runner, sometimes conversation can be tough to come by. All runners are friends we just haven’t met yet, right?

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  11. Good question! I think about the same thing. I wouldn’t have met any of my current friends if I wasn’t a runner because I met them through the old running club. What a blessing! I probably wouldn’t ever be friends with some because our paths would have probably never have crossed. Also, almost all of the runners I know have pets except for me. Interesting…

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  12. I don’t have many running friends, and I can testify that there is some people I would have never met if not for running. And I’ve met some very awesome people!

    Interesting question!

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  13. Friends are my favorite thing about running. I have been blessed with meeting some of my favorite, kindest, funniest and most-interesting friends through running. I still have a bunch of my friends from BR (before running), too, and I’m sure I drive them crazy with all of the running talk. They probably think I joined a cult!

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  14. Most of running friends are virtual 🙂 I only talk to a few real life friends who run and one that is all we really have as a bond.
    I would like to have more people to run or walk with here, since I don’t think I will be running races much any more I think my shot at meeting running friends is going the wrong way.

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  15. I’d like to think we’d be friends even if we didn’t both run… however, if we both didn’t blog, then we would’ve never “met,” soooo… I’m pretty much a firm believer in things happen for a reason. I actually don’t have any friends that I go running with, and to be honest, I don’t have any friends who even remotely understand my running, so I never to get to talk about it or share my accomplishments or failures with a live human being other than my husband. And my wonderful virtual friends! 😀

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