Would a running buddy give you an advantage?
With mixed results from studies, it comes down to personal preference
Montreal triathletes Elizabeth Boutin, 20, and Amy Legault, 19, have trained together every day for the past 18 months. And while they acknowledge that some alone time is good for the soul, they prefer working out side by side.
“Training together makes us stronger,” Boutin said.
Legault agreed. “We push each other,” she said. “When I’m having a bad day, she sets the pace and I follow. When she’s having a bad day, I push the pace and she follows.”
That mutual push and pull between training partners is often lauded as reason enough to eschew a set of earbuds in favour of a sweat buddy. For runners, who are known for their solitary nature, the idea that a partner could make the miles easier and boost overall performance is tempting. But as often as the benefits of having a training partner are extolled, it’s not a given that sweating alongside someone will lead to improved performance.
Only a handful of studies have explored the dynamics of training with a running buddy, with results being mixed across genders and fitness levels. In male collegiate runners, training with a teammate resulted in slower times but enhanced enjoyment during a 6.4 km training run. Meanwhile, in a recent study of recreational runners, researchers reported little difference in performance or enjoyment among runners paired with known and unknown partners of similar speed.
“Compared with running alone, neither males nor females altered volitional speed, duration or distance when running with a familiar or unfamiliar peer matched for sex and fitness,” said authors of a study published in the February 2016 edition of the Journal of Strength Training and Conditioning Research.
Why the mixed results when it comes to working out with a partner?
Kyla Rollinson is a Montrealbased running and triathlon coach for both recreational and elite athletes. She says the dynamics of running with a partner(s) are more complicated than just judging success by a stopwatch. And while many runners seek out a running club for its stable of built-in training partners, there’s no guarantee that any improvements in speed or distance are the result of running alongside their peers.
Rollinson says in her experience male runners are more prone to pick up the pace in the presence of a training partner as compared to their female counterparts. A Kent State study concurred with Rollinson’s claim, noting a similar phenomenon of men running faster when matched with an unfamiliar male of the same speed. Women, on the other hand, slowed down.
“Men tend to be more competitive when you throw them into the snake pit,” laughed Rollinson, who says women generally become more conservation when running in an unfamiliar group.
The trouble with trying to figure out whether running with a partner will have an effect on performance is that there are so many variables to consider, including whether or not companionship or competitiveness is the desired result. Elite runners may be more prone to push their training partners, while recreational runners make their partner’s runs seem just a bit easier.
It’s also possible that matching partners of the opposite sex may further change the dynamic, with both runners pushing the envelope in a modified battle of the sexes. The same can happen when pairing running partners of different speeds, with one partner working harder or easier to keep up with the other.
Rollinson says being new to a running group often provides the motivation to go faster or farther — at least initially. But that extra gear tends to disappear with time, as runners soon settle into a more comfortable speed and/or distance.
“When new people come in there’s a tendency to test the waters a bit,” she said.
Given Rollinson’s experience and the equivocalness of several studies exploring the dynamics of running in a peer, is it worth seeking out a running partner?
For many, it’s simply a matter of personal preference. Some people benefit from the motivation that a running partner offers, including improved exercise adherence and enjoyment. For others the benefit of a running buddy is strictly performancebased, providing a push to get better on every run.
Of course, no discussion on the pros and cons of a training partner can be had without mentioning the recent popularity of using a smartphone as a running buddy. With music providing the distraction once only had through conversation and fitness apps keeping you on pace with frequent updates on foot speed, training partners are starting to look a little different.
Yet there’s no replacing the conversations that take place over the course of a long run. And many a runner will tell you that their training buddy gets them out of the house when the couch beckons. As for Legault and Boutin, they’ve found what no training app can ever replace.
“We talk about what’s going on at school and in our lives,” Boutin said. “We’re friends.”
When I’m having a bad day, she sets the pace and I follow. When she’s having a bad day, I push the pace and she follows.