I have never been one to immerse myself in tight social groups. I love to have good girlfriends as much as the next gal, but something about the clique- the tight knit group of a number of girls who all do everything together all the time- never appealed to me. I hated the idea that any time I called Sue, I had to also call Jane, who would then call Mary, and sure enough a quick trip out for lunch would soon become a 5 girl strong affair that took an hour just to decide on where to go. But in the same fashion that I have always hated to be a part of a clique, I can’t stand other cliques that I am not a part of either because I hate to be left out of anything. Even if I don’t want to be in the clique, I still always want to be invited to everything that mary, sue, and jane are doing. It really is a catch 22 that I have struggled with for my entire social life.
But Saturday morning I found myself in the midst of a new click. A running click. I have been longing for a real running group for years. Over the past few years I have worked my way through a few different running partners. My original partner moved away. Fortunately, she introduced me to another partner first. Then I moved away. Then my partner got too fast for me. Then I met a new partner. Then she stopped running. Then she started again. Then an old running partner moved back to town. Suddenly I found myself overwhelmed with the feeling like I was cheating on everyone. Any time I was running with someone, it meant I was not running with someone else. But wait, I had an idea. Could it be that we could actually all run together? I gave it a shot, and sent out the email.
So at 8am the past three Saturdays, we have actually managed some group runs. Meshing all of our paces is a little tough, and some in the group are more concerned with good conversation, while others are more concerned with good personal times, but in the end, we’re all out there together and get to chat over latte’s when we are done. So now I am just hoping that as long as I can convince everyone to keep showing up, we can work out the details a little more each week because I am thrilled to finally have my very own clique that actually clicks. There really is strength in numbers. Knowing my friends are going to go for a run without me if I don’t get my butt out of bed- is enough to get me to put on my shoes. Because who knows what I’ll miss if I’m not there! But unlike so many other cliques, you are welcome to join us anytime. And if you miss a day, we won’t take you off the phone tree either.
