I'm a 100% backer of the group training movement. Maybe it's a dependency issue on my part - after the Beach to Beacon, maybe I'll work on that.

But for now I'll continue to marvel at the positive effects of peer pressure.

What? Thought peer pressure only revolved around booze, drugs and sex? Those things are nice too, but a little arm twisting might be just what you need to put down the tequila and go for a run (once you've sobered up, of course. Running drunk isn't as fun as it sounds).

And there's that camaraderie thing, too. It's nice to know that when I show up to a Thursday run and mumble something like "I don't like the sound of 'tempo run,'" I can count on someone nodding in agreement. "'Tempo run' sounds fast. I don't do fast."

The Thursday group is a good one - and Thursdays have become the upturn day on a quickly plummeting week. I rock on weekends - doing a long run and trying to keep the drinking to only the necessary minimum. On Monday I figure I just ran over the weekend, so I ought to take a rest.

On Tuesday it's either raining, or it's not. Either way, I don't run. Wednesday I work ridiculously early - can't run before work and too exhausted to run after.

By Thursday afternoon the good spirit from the weekend has been entirely quashed and I'm tinkering with the idea of pursuing a competitive eating career.

But it's Thursday - it's the group run day - and every week I go despite the imperfection of the previous three days.

Running with someone else makes all the difference. Instead of focusing on how tired you are or how slow you're going or how far the finish line is, you can get some decent face to face social time. I'm a talker by nature anyway, and while I can (and do) talk to myself regularly, I feel like I've heard all my stories before.

Talking (despite the panting) to someone else and hearing new stories and laughing at the people running the Back Cove in dress shoes makes the time fly by.

In fact, you might just get 5 miles under your belt without even realizing it, which is exactly what happened last night.

For a change of pace - and to work on speed - we ran from the Maine Running Company store to the Back Cove soccer fields. There we stepped up the pace and ran the field perimeter several times (running the straights, walking the curves). Around and around we went - and Anna and I chatted the whole way.

My perception of distance is non-existent, so when we were told that we'd run 5 miles (adding up the run to the field, around the field and back) I was pretty surprised. And impressed. And suddenly very tired.

See - I knew my incessant talking would come in handy one day.