by Deb Lowther

Are you a lone rider or a groupie when it comes to working out?  Do you go to the gym regardless if Betty Sue can make it or do you use her “schedule conflict” to cancel your own workout?

I have been active since I was about 10 years old.  It started with my parents and the ParticipACTION program that had us doing sit ups, chin ups and skipping as a family in our basement.  We would accumulate enough points for a badge and if we beat the other team (me and my Mom against my Dad and brother), the winner would get ice cream at the end of the month!  Well, everyone got the ice cream, but the non-winners had to pay!

We went for small runs as a family, longer bike rides and weekend hikes.  I watched my parents go to the gym and when I got old enough, I went to aerobics classes with my mom for years.  I was lucky to be raised in an active family, which helped to instill lifelong habits, the knowledge that it is important and the desire to be fit.

As I started running on my own and got my own gym membership, I cannot count the number of friends who have said “I’ll work out with you”.  They did.  Once. Maybe twice. Never for very long.  I became a lone rider.

After three kids, it became harder to find time to get out so I would squeeze in a run at any opportunity, making it difficult to plan runs with friends.   I did join two running groups and have a standing invitation for local Saturday morning runs and longer Sunday morning trail runs.  Sometimes I join them, but often I choose to run during the week when my kids are in school so weekends can be family time.  Again opting for the lone rider!

A couple weeks ago I mentioned to a casual friend that I was riding my bike to some trails and going for a 10km run and then riding home. She was intrigued as she had recently committed to getting back in shape.  She physically couldn’t do the run portion (yet!) but would meet me for the ride.

Working out with friends is better and exercising with a friend helps to lose more weight?  It really is true and studies have been done that prove it.

So far, we have gone out for three rides together.  We are working up to the running part but for now we are having too much fun on our bikes.  We are gone for an hour and a half and battle some fierce winds, cold temperatures, challenging trails and share some good belly laughs!

So follow our journey as we both commit to our Outdoor Fitness/Winter Workout twice a week  – outside. . . all winter! Wind, snow or rain!   Biking as long as the trails allow, then switching to running or maybe hot tea drinking?

See if these two lone riders can take it outside and motivate each other to make it through the harsh winter and be Friends in Fitness!

Would you work out more if you had a friend to join you?

Deb Lowther is a mother of 3 young daughters who, when not running after the kids, is running in the trails! She blogs about Raising Healthy Kids and ensures her own have fun while eating healthy & staying active.  You can visit her websites to learn more Iron-kids.com and AdultGummies.com