No, I don’t mean night clubbing or gym clubs, but local clubs! Here in Augusta, I first joined Augusta Striders which is a running club. Unfortunately, I never participated with the group because most of the meet-ups/group runs were about 25 minutes away. I couldn’t justify driving more time than I was gonna spend actually working out.
The biggest benefit though was finding out about local events. I did TONS of 5k’s and 10k’s when I got back in shape.
Then when I decided to get into triathlons, I found a triathlon club here, TriAugusta. The club has been great for me. There are tons of meet-ups for open water swims. It’s important because its not very safe to try to open water swim in a river or lake by yourself. The other great thing about the club is the amazing discounts we get. We get 15% off an online running store, 50%+ off wetsuits, and discounts on certain races. The cost of the club can be covered just by buying two pairs of running shoes!
Many cities have Jeff Galloway Training Groups which use his run/walk method. They meet up regularly and even do his time trials to determine your estimated finish times using his “magic mile.” I ran in Albany, GA with a bunch of people doing the Jeff Galloway program. They were SO nice and treated me like one of their own. It was so great considering I was out of town and on my own.
And with all clubs, the best benefit is the socializing! You’ll be amazed what you’ll learn from others. Not to mention the new friends, jobs, etc you can get out it!
Finish Line: find a club to join. You’ll benefit greatly with the knowledge and discounts you can get!
I Tri but Never Win 