The benefits of working out in a group

One of things I really value about embracing exercise as part of my life is all the wonderful people I've met along the way. There is a feeling of camaraderie when working out with others - whether it be just once or with people who have become good friends - as we are all there for the same reason.

This first became evident to me when I did my very first fun run - the 10km at Run Melbourne last year. A few members of my orchestra did the 5km and we had team T shirts made then met for brunch afterward.

I've since met so many new friends through doing fun runs, yoga and online fitness programs. I finally met some friends from when I first started my weight loss with Shannan Ponton's weight loss program when we did City2Surf in Sydney together in August this year.

 

I'm also very thankful for all the wonderful people I've met doing the Michelle Bridges' 12wbt. This is a group of women I can really relate to as we all set, work toward and achieve our fitness goals, run together and have fun together!

 

1. Braving the rain at the Melbourne Finale Workout in July

 

2. Enjoying a night out at the Brisbane Finale in February

 

 

And more recently I've enjoyed finding a regular local run group, which has been a great encouragement to keep running in between fun runs and really helped those of us in the group who recently completed a half marathon.

 

 

However, the wonderful thing about exercise is that sometimes you meet people just once as we work through goals we've set ourselves. When I was doing my first half marathon a few weeks ago, I hit a real stumbling point for a couple of km. Two women also doing their first half from Shepparton asked me to run with them and we encouraged each other for the rest of the run.

 

 

In other news, I was very pleased to step on the scales this morning and discover I'd lost 2.1kg! My new resolutions are working already. I also used some money from extra work I've done recently to purchase two pairs of shorts on sale to encourage me to keep working out as the weather gets warmer - not I just need Melbourne to stay sunny so I can try them out :).