What To Do Without Your Run Crew

We all go farther when we run together. Right now as we all know too well, that’s not happening. Six weeks in and literally indoors for many of us and we have realized how important our run crews really are. We spoke with some run crew leaders to for their advice on how runners of all levels can stay on track with their training, and still tap into the energy we get from one another. Never run with a crew before but always wanted to give it a try? Now is the best time to connect with different crews via social media, and find one that’s right for you. 

STAY CONNECTED
Running is individual yet it can be very social. Brittany Moran, a running coach with StrideWise run crew and chiropractor at the Runner’s Academy in Toronto agree understands that it can be difficult to feel connected to your community right now. “It’s time to embrace the solo run,” she says. While running alone may be the reality but she is keeping StrideWise runners connected is through Virtual strength training sessions four times a week. The runners also connect through a weekly Sunday Social on Zoom and the StrideWise Facebook group. “We do weekly prompts and challenges, where we asked runners to create  runroute art and share it which was run,” says Moran.

CHANGE IS GOOD

With most of the world on work from home schedules our daily commutes just got a whole lot shorter. Changing the time of day you run at is also a way to switch things up, and also practice safe distancing. For Tribe Fitness owner Heather Gardner it’s now possible to run mid-morning in downtown Toronto because there is much less pedestrian and vehicular traffic, which she says makes it easier to navigate and keep a distance when crossing paths with fellow pedestrians. “Be alert, and plan where to move as you come up to people so that you are keeping two meters apart,” she says.

GET APPY

Whether you’re on Strava, Nike Training, ASICS Run Keeper or something else, this is your chance to really fine tune your running and see where you’re making progress. Midnight Runners, a global run crew uses the fitness app MyCrew. Julie Hambleton, leader of Midnight Runner’s Toronto chapter has been posting virtual workouts on the app for all Toronto members. “We’ve been trying to get people excited by chatting up the workouts, using our Toronto Facebook pace and on our global Instagram page,” she says. “Also the hashtag #sendingnothingbutlove has been one we are using because reall, mental health and feeling connected to others is what we are trying to achieve right now, not necessarily fitness.

KEEP MOTIVATED
For runners who are just starting out it can be easy to be discouraged when you have been relying on more experience runners in your crew for regular weekly inspiration, not to mention accountability. For Tribe runners, Gardner created a workout tracker for April, to help everyone stay connected. “We’ve also created a playlist for our Tribe to train and run too,” says Gardner, “And we have shared 5K routes that our members can do solo and set up a photo booth outside our studio meet up location during our regular run crew hours so that runner can come by, take their photos.” Runners can find themselves on Tribe’s social media, giving everyone a little something to look forward to post run!

Anna Lee Boschetto is a regular iRun contributor. She also writes about health, beauty and travel.