Find your own pace

Group runs are fun.Running with training partners can be great. Running at someone else's pace might not be. Given all my knee troubles the past few years, it would seem logical to slow down to reduce the impact. To some extent that is true. What you have to do is find a pace that suits your own biomechanics. Last year at the Akron half I ran with my brother in law, I learned a lesson. I ran the race and was very glad that I did but, my knees were not happy with the slower pace. Instead of striding out and running in a normal pattern, the slower pace made my knees sorta jam into the pavement. VERY swollen knees were the result. While running with others I can sorta run normally up to a 9 minute pace. After that my altered mechanics made me tighten up and make my runs fall apart. I think I have a solution. I can run about 90 minutes at an altered pace. If I run farther, I have to throw in walking to reset my mechanics to something normal. I have to pay special attention to stretching and foam roller work once I get home to help work out the mechanical damage. Love your running friends, just dont let them hurt your biomechanics ; )