Run with your Valentine!

Tomorrow is Saturday, it's a running day and it's also Valentine's Day so, why not take your partner on the perfect date and treat him or her to your favourite running route, running session, running race or parkrun?

It’s not always easy to run with your partner, though, unless you are both evenly matched in terms of goals, pace, distance and fitness but on this special day of the year it may be nice to meet in the middle and go for a run side by side or, alternatively, you could do a speed session where you work at your own pace but are using the same tracks or paths and can high-five each other as you run by!

Running together can be tremendously motivating as long as you are aware of how hard the other person is working and that this will affect the level of conversation you may have. One may be working aerobically and so is able to chat all the way through the run but the other could be working anaerobically and only able to manage one or two words at a time. In this situation it is wise for the aerobic runner to be sensitive to this and plan to do most of the talking - perhaps talk about things that have been happening at work and avoid asking the anaerobic runner too many open questions and so save their breath! Another option may be to just run part of the run together. If one wants to go out for 40 minutes and the other only 20 minutes it may be that there is a turn around point where one can go on for longer and the other head back for home.

There are also plenty of races on this weekend with a Valentines theme. Many of them have closed their entries now but there are some that still have places so check out our calendar to find your perfect Valentine's race! Alternatively, look for your local parkrun.

If you are single and looking there is no better place to find your perfect partner than at a race, parkrun, running club or group. There are plenty of runners out there eager to meet someone who shares their passion and can think of no better date than going for a training run!

…..I’m gonna run with you…and when the feeling's right I’m gonna stay all night…!

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!