They were intimidating to me so I never went. Add the weather variability, and knee wear when running on pavement, and I just stuck to the treadmill the whole time. Even for the half-marathons. I realize I missed out on the social aspect, but if you are running with headphones and huffing and puffing, how much socializing is there? I guess the socializing must happen before and after.
Even still, maybe I’ll give it a try. Thanks for the tip.
One of my weekly group runs is 4 miles followed by beers with the runners on an early week day evening. Monday nights another group offers options of 3 and 5 miles and we always wait for everyone at the half way point and finish point. Another one is Friday mornings at 6 am a 6 mile loop around the lake followed by coffee. Saturday mornings at 7 am one of my groups does long runs - those are especially cool because they provide many distance options (I usually go 13-18 miles) and people then group up based on pace. For the long runs I always run much slower than I would do otherwise - this is where it is really nice to have people to chat with.
I would never get up so early if it weren't for these groups.
Other than these running groups I actually don't have a friend group where I live. It's nice to consistently see a mix of regular and new people and do something healthy (except for your knees perhaps) together.
By the way I really like wearing Hoka One One shoes for their extra cushioning. Definitely helps with pavement.
If you are bored of pavement, at least where I live there are many trail running groups too. I just don't like having to drive far to start running.
Even still, maybe I’ll give it a try. Thanks for the tip.