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Social Running vs. Quality Workouts: How you have your fun and get fit too in 2025

Rick Canning

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Opinion | Running

Pain Flare-Ups Don't Mean You're Getting Worse

Quick Navigation

  1. Introduction
  2. The Importance of the Social Run
  3. Quality Running Workouts
  4. Easy Running
  5. Working the Run Group Into Your Training
  6. Conclusion

 

 

After reading this blog, if you still need help with your training, injury rehab, or performance, reach out to us at Vital Strength Physiology HERE.

 

 

The Importance of the Social Run

I used to be a lone wolf when it came to training. For no good reason, I was pretty timid when it came to getting out and running with a group. I didn't think it would be for me. Then one day, I got brave enough to go and check out my local run group, the North End Runners. After my first run with them, I was hooked. It was so much fun. It still took me a little bit to come out of my shell, but five years in, I rarely miss a Wednesday.

The regular crew run recharges my soul every week with an influx of positive vibes and conversation. It's refreshing that I can get to know such a diverse group of people, and the topic of what you do for a living rarely comes up. It's not for everyone, but there is something special when a group of like-minded people come together and share a run.

I also regularly work family time into my social running on the weekend. This is a great way to get out and share some quality time. Amanda and I often spend our Sundays together trail running, and it is so much fun.

When you get into the whole social run scene, it doesn't take long before your calendar can fill up pretty quickly. Wednesday runs, track night Tuesday, Thursday trail, weekend long runs, and family time runs. When you pack your schedule with all these fun activities, you very quickly begin having little time actually to run at a pace that is beneficial training.

The key to progressing as a runner is to make sure you are doing most of (65-70%) your running easily, and the rest of it will make up for your quality workout days and long runs. When you put the right amount of effort into each specific type of run, you will apply just the right amount of stress to cause adaptations in your body allowing you to get faster and run further, while allowing your body enough time to recover and to absorb the training. When things get out of balance on either side of the equation, be it too much easy running, too little hard running or too much running in the middle, runners will find they get injured more frequently and plateau with their progress.

 

 

Quality Running Workouts

Quality workouts are runs that have a specific purpose other than your typical easy endurance running. These are your V02 max, threshold, and long-run days. Depending on your weekly mileage and experience, you should have 2-3 quality workouts per week. If you are just getting into this, it should probably be one workout day during the week, and one longer run on the weekend.

Quality runs are essential to make improvements as a runner and need to be run at a particular effort level to achieve the adaptations you are looking to get from the workout.

Working out in a group setting to do your hard workouts, such as intervals or threshold runs, is very beneficial. So long as you are doing what you are supposed to and not just blindly following what others are doing. The group setting is great to have friends to share in the suffering and push you through the hard intervals. This is why I started the Tuesday and Thursday morning workout days. These mornings on the commons are a safe space where everyone can come and be social for the warm-up and then can do their own thing for the workout portion. The great thing about being on the commons is that you are never far away from a group member. There is always someone close for a high five or for cheering you on even though you are not running side by side or even running the same workout. This early morning community of runners is a collaboration of runners of all levels coming together to push their limits. It works well as the more experienced runners help the new runners, and everyone has something to gain from being in the group. The support is there, but this is not a social only a social run, it is a quality workout day.

 

 

Easy Running

For the majority of people, I would say that group social run pace is harder than what an easy run would be considered. The typical person in a group run setting tends to run faster than they probably should to try and keep up with the group.

If you are running slower than you typically should, this is not a bad problem to have. I will typically tack on some extra miles to the group run and sometimes add some light speed work to make sure that I am getting the right training stimulus in. The bigger problem, however, is when you are working a group social run into your schedule and calling it an easy run. But when you break it down, you are running faster than your marathon race pace (or in some cases 1/2 marathon or even 10k race pace). This is no longer an easy run, and if you are serious about your training (OR YOU WANT TO GET FITTER WITHOUT GETTING INJURED), you shouldn't kid yourself into thinking that it is one.

First, you need to figure out where you fall in the pace spectrum and figure out what your "easy pace" should be. This is pretty easy to do if you use a simple tool like the MacMillan running calculator such as the one HERE. With this tool, you can enter in your best time from a running race, and it will extrapolate a bunch of predicted paces for other distances.

Your easy pace should be around 1 min/km slower than your marathon pace, which you can find in this chart. So if your marathon race pace is around 4:12/km so this means an easy running pace of 5:12/km. This works out ok with an average group running pace in the 5:20-5:30 min/km.

But let's say you are not a sub - 3hr marathon runner and you are a 4 hr marathon runner according to your pace chart your marathon race pace is around 5:45/km so your easy pace should be around 6:45/km. Now, this is not an exact science, and as the paces get slower, there is a bit more wiggle room in what your easy pace should be compared to your predicted marathon race pace just because you don't have the long-distance endurance build-up to make the paces at longer distances accurate. So, in this case, it's ok if you feel comfortable to take that 6:45/km pace down to 6:20-6:30/km pace.

The critical takeaway here is that we need to establish what your easy run pace should be so we can understand the impact different runs have on our body.

Looking at the numbers we just discussed, do you think you are running a social run at your easy pace? My experience shows that almost no one in the social run is running easy. If I had my way, I'd like to be a part of the conversation that starts to educate people on what it means to run easy. This is a pretty big point for me and one that is very important for runners to understand to progress in the sport without getting injured. For now, if you would like to read more on this topic, I recommend that you start with THIS article.

One of my biggest pet peeves as a coach is when I hear people saying they are out for an easy run when they are running faster than their marathon race pace. Know what you are doing and plan your week accordingly, so you keep progressing as a runner and don't end up injured.

When a group of friends gets together to do a long run, the pace often creeps up. Typically only one person in the group (or sometimes no one) will be running near the pace they should while the rest of the group is either running too fast or too slow because no one understands what pace they need to be running for it to be a beneficial run. Both of these situations are not good for your training. It is ok, or even very helpful, to have training partners who are close to you in pace (15-20 sec/km or so), and you can share these types of workouts.

 

 

Working the Run Group Into Your Training

Take charge of your training and give each run a purpose and stick to it even in social settings. Keep your hard days hard and your easy days easy. You are making sure that you only have 2-3 quality workouts in the run of a week.

Now that you know what your easy pace is and you know that your typical social run is faster than what your easy pace is, what do you do? You have a few options, all with some pros and cons:

  • Talk with your friends and explain to them that you would like to run slower, they will probably be happy to slow down with you. This is preferable if you are finding that the group pace is pretty close to your marathon pace. You will not get any fitness gains or adaptations running at this pace.
  • Take it for what it is. Realize that the group run is a harder run. Schedule it as a hard day in your week. If you find the group run is hard enough on its own, then make sure you slow down your runs for the rest of the week to an easier pace. If you are in a place where the run on its own is borderline hard, then treat it as a warm-up and hit some intervals post group run.
  • This run feels very hard for you to keep up. Make this a "threshold" workout. When you look at your pace chart, and you see that the average group pace is close to your 10k race pace, it can be an excellent workout for you. The stoplights and stop signs will naturally break it up into intervals for you. So you can embrace the suffering and run hard to keep up.

What is in common with all three of these options? You are thinking about what is the purpose of the run. And you are making a deliberate choice and understand how that choice fits into your overall training plan. Understanding this, you now should know that if you choose option 2 or 3 that you should not be running a hard workout day before or after your social workout run. This will overstress your body, and you will likely get injured.

Social Runs are fantastic! Now that you are empowered with some knowledge about pacing, you can better structure your week around them.

 

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, social runs offer much more than just miles on the road—they provide a sense of community, camaraderie, and fun. However, it’s important to balance these enjoyable group runs with a structured training plan that ensures your hard days are truly hard and your easy days are easy. By being mindful of your pace and the purpose behind each run, you can enjoy the benefits of social running without sacrificing your progress or risking injury. So, get out there, join your local run group, and remember: train smart, have fun, and run with purpose!

More About The Author

More About The Author

Rick Canning

 

Since 2015, Rick has provided science-based endurance coaching for athletes of all levels, specializing in trail running and ultra distances. With a background in engineering and certifications in marathon and ultra running, he brings a practical approach to helping athletes tackle ambitious goals, from personal bests to podium finishes. Rick has coached runners, cyclists, and triathletes, with notable successes like a 100% finish rate at the Capes 100 and guiding an athlete to complete the UTMB 160k. His philosophy emphasizes curiosity and sustainable training that fits into athletes' lives, prioritizing their happiness.

Quick Navigation

  1. Introduction
  2. The Importance of the Social Run
  3. Quality Running Workouts
  4. Easy Running
  5. Working the Run Group Into Your Training
  6. Conclusion

Introduction

"Oh, it's just part of getting older."

Cool, cool, cool. Except your shoulder used to work fine. You used to jump out of bed. You weren't rehabbing a new injury every other week. So no, this isn't just a normal part of aging, and it doesn't have to be something you just accept.

There's actually a clinical name for it: the musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause. It's our understanding of how the hormonal changes of perimenopause and menopause affect the musculoskeletal system, and how hormone therapy can be used to help treat these symptoms as part of a holistic approach to rehabilitation.

The same hormonal changes that cause our hot flashes, disrupted sleep, and make us not feel like ourselves are also directly impacting the tissue that lets you move: how your muscles repair themselves, how your joints handle load, how your tendons hold up over time, and how your bones maintain their density and strength.

This article breaks down what's actually happening in your body during perimenopause and menopause, why declining estrogen hits your musculoskeletal system so hard, and how a collaborative approach between hormone therapy and rehabilitation can improve your quality of life.

Not sure if hormones are behind your aches and pains?

A hormonal health consult with Pause Health can tell you whether hormonal changes may be part of the picture, and whether hormone therapy is appropriate for you. A movement assessment with Vital Performance Care tells you what's actually happening with your strength, mobility, and joints. The real answer often needs both.

Book a Hormone Consult with Pause Health

Book a Clinical Musculoskeletal Assessment with a Chiropractor or Physiotherapist at Vital Performance Care

 

What Is the Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause?

The term was formally introduced in 2024 by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Vonda Wright and colleagues, in a review published in the journal Climacteric (Wright et al., 2024). It covers the cluster of musculoskeletal symptoms that show up as estrogen declines during perimenopause and menopause:

5 common symptoms of menopause

"Common doesn't mean normal, and it doesn't mean untreatable."

 

Why This Gets Missed

40% of women menopause

Imaging isn't always helpful here, and a normal scan doesn't mean nothing's wrong. It usually means a single joint in isolation isn't the whole story.

If you're in midlife dealing with shoulder pain, recurring tendon issues, stiffness, or a real drop in strength, the useful question isn't just "what's wrong with this joint." It's what else has changed:

menopause checklist

 

All of it can be part of the same picture, and all of it is worth bringing up with your provider.

It's Not Only a Post-Menopause Problem

These changes often don't wait for your final period to show up. For a lot of women, this starts in perimenopause, while hormones are still fluctuating rather than non-existent. New stiffness, more frequent tendon flare-ups, muscle that's harder to maintain, an injury that seems to have come out of nowhere — these can all start years before menopause or the one-year anniversary of your last menstrual period.

menopause symptoms

That doesn't automatically mean hormones are the cause, but when it's happening alongside other perimenopause symptoms, it is worth considering the connection. Waiting until you're fully postmenopausal to start paying attention also means missing a window where building strength and addressing risk factors is a lot easier than trying to recover ground later.

How Estrogen, Progesterone, and Testosterone Affect Your Joints, Muscles, and Bones

Your musculoskeletal system is more hormone-sensitive than most people realize. Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone receptors exist throughout your muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone. When those hormone levels shift, so does the health of every one of those tissues.

menopause list

 

Estrogen: The Primary Driver

Estrogen plays several distinct roles that matter for your joints and muscles:

1) Muscle repair and growth.

Estrogen supports the satellite cells responsible for repairing and building skeletal muscle. As estrogen declines, muscle protein synthesis becomes less efficient, contributing to the accelerated loss of muscle mass and strength seen after menopause (Critchlow et al., 2023; Hansen, 2018).

2) Inflammation control.

Estrogen has anti-inflammatory effects on muscle and connective tissue. Lower estrogen is associated with higher baseline inflammation, which can show up as generalized aches, tendon irritation, and slower recovery from exercise.

3) Bone density.

Estrogen slows the rate of bone breakdown. Its decline is the single biggest driver of the rapid bone loss that happens around the final menstrual period, which is why osteoporosis risk climbs so sharply in this window (Karlamangla et al., 2021).

4) Collagen and connective tissue.

Estrogen supports collagen production in tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. Research measuring tendon tissue directly has found that postmenopausal women on estrogen therapy have higher tendon collagen synthesis rates than those who aren't (Hansen, 2018), meaning their tendons are literally better equipped for ongoing repair. This is part of why frozen shoulder and tendon injuries become more common in this stage.

Progesterone: An Underexplored but Meaningful Role

Progesterone gets far less research attention than estrogen when it comes to musculoskeletal health, but it isn't inactive. It has a calming effect on the nervous system that influences sleep quality and pain perception, and both poor sleep and heightened pain sensitivity make other MSK symptoms feel worse. That alone makes progesterone relevant to how you feel day to day.

There's also emerging research on progesterone's more direct role in connective tissue. Progesterone receptors have been identified in tendon tissue, and some research suggests progesterone may support collagen synthesis rates in muscle in postmenopausal women (Hansen, 2018). At the same time, animal studies have shown progesterone can increase the expression of relaxin receptors in ligaments and tendons, which theoretically could make tissue more responsive to joint-loosening effects, though this evidence is largely limited to rodent models rather than human studies. Put simply, the current research suggests progesterone has a mixed, tissue-dependent effect, and the science is still catching up to what's seen clinically.

What is well established is that progesterone works alongside estrogen rather than independently, and has anti-inflammatory properties of its own. So as progesterone declines during perimenopause, you're losing more than estrogen's protective effects — you're also losing progesterone's contribution to sleep, pain modulation, and inflammation control.

Testosterone: Relevant Beyond Libido

Testosterone is routinely mislabeled as a "male hormone," but women produce it throughout their lives and actually have more testosterone than estrogen, with levels declining gradually with age, often starting well before menopause itself.

Its best-established, evidence-based clinical use in women remains the treatment of low sexual desire (Davis et al., 2019). But that's not the whole picture. A 2023 systematic review of observational studies examining endogenous testosterone levels found associations between testosterone concentrations and muscle mass, strength, and physical performance in women (Taylor et al., 2023) — an area of research that has historically been underexplored. Testosterone contributes to muscle protein synthesis and strength, plus it's a motivation hormone, motivation to get up and go, to move, all of which are directly relevant to musculoskeletal health.

"If training effort has stayed consistent but the results haven't, testosterone is worth discussing with your provider — not just in the context of libido, but in the context of strength and function."

What You Can Actually Do About It: Hormone Testing, Physiotherapy, and Strength Training in Calgary

The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause is treatable, and a lot of it is preventable with early intervention. Managing it well usually comes down to two things working together: an accurate picture of your hormones, and a training approach suited to this new hormonal environment.

Start With a Hormone Consultation

A hormone consult can help put your symptoms and hormonal changes into context, including whether testing for estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone is appropriate for you. From there, your care team can use your symptoms, clinical history, and, when appropriate, lab results to guide treatment as you move through perimenopause and into postmenopause.

For women who are good candidates, current clinical guidance supports hormone therapy as a favourable option: for those under 60 or within 10 years of their final period, the benefit-risk balance generally favours symptom relief and bone protection (NAMS 2022 Hormone Therapy Position Statement Advisory Panel, 2022). However, if you are outside of that window, that doesn't necessarily mean you cannot safely take hormone therapy. This is where an individualized consultation is important, to help you understand your unique risk and benefit profile and determine whether hormone therapy is right for you.

Then Build a Body That Can Handle the Transition

Resistance training is one of the most effective tools available here. A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis found consistent benefits of resistance training on strength, body composition, and physical function in healthy postmenopausal women (González-Gálvez et al., 2024). Strength training does what hormones alone can't:

menopause hormones

 

Working with a physiotherapist, chiropractor, or strength coach who understands hormone-related musculoskeletal changes makes a real difference here. A generic program built for a 25-year-old's physiology isn't the right fit for a 48-year-old whose estrogen has dropped 40% in two years. Structured, joint-specific rehab — like shoulder, hip, or foot foundation programs — can be especially useful if you're already managing pain or an old injury and need to rebuild strength without aggravating it.

A Team Approach Works Best

Hormone health and musculoskeletal health aren't separate problems; they're the same problem viewed from two angles. That's the premise behind the partnership between Pause Health and Vital Performance Care: Pause Health handles the hormone side — testing, interpretation, and treatment where appropriate — while Vital Performance Care's physiotherapists, chiropractors, and strength coaches handle the movement side, building a program suited to what your body actually needs.

menopause graph

 

Conclusion

Joint pain, stiffness, muscle loss, and tendon injuries in your 40s and 50s are common. Common doesn't mean normal, and it doesn't mean untreatable. The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause has a strong hormonal component, and understanding your estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels is often a key piece in explaining these changes. Paired with the right strength and rehab program, this is one of the more addressable parts of the menopause transition.

If you're in Calgary and dealing with new aches, stiffness, or strength loss that started around perimenopause, it's worth investigating rather than waiting. Get your hormones tested, get assessed, and build a plan suited to where your body actually is.

Book a Hormone Consult with Pause Health

Book a Clinical Musculoskeletal Assessment with a Chiropractor or Physiotherapist at Vital Performance Care

About the Author

Shelby Sheppard, BN, MN, FNP-C

Shelby Sheppard, BN, MN, FNP-C, is a Nurse Practitioner and the founder of Pause Health (pausehealth.ca), a virtual hormone and sexual health clinic based in Calgary, Alberta. Her practice focuses on hormone health, sexual medicine, and evidence-based menopause care.

Shelby is a community partner of Vital Performance Care, and the practitioners at Vital refer to and rely on Shelby to co-manage complex client cases with.

 

Pause Health and Menopause Syndrome

 

 

References

Critchlow, A. J., Hiam, D., Williams, R., Scott, D., & Lamon, S. (2023). The role of estrogen in female skeletal muscle aging: A systematic review. Maturitas, 178, 107844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2023.107844

Davis, S. R., Baber, R., Panay, N., Bitzer, J., Cerdas Perez, S., Islam, R. M., Kaunitz, A. M., Kingsberg, S. A., Lambrinoudaki, I., Liu, J., Parish, S. J., Pinkerton, J., Rymer, J., Simon, J. A., Vignozzi, L., & Wierman, M. E. (2019). Global consensus position statement on the use of testosterone therapy for women. Climacteric: The Journal of the International Menopause Society, 22(5), 429–434. https://doi.org/10.1080/13697137.2019.1637079

González-Gálvez, N., Moreno-Torres, J. M., & Vaquero-Cristóbal, R. (2024). Resistance training effects on healthy postmenopausal women: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Climacteric: The Journal of the International Menopause Society, 27(3), 296–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/13697137.2024.2310521

Hansen, M. (2018). Female hormones: Do they influence muscle and tendon protein metabolism? The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 77(1), 32–41. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665117001951

Karlamangla, A. S., Shieh, A., & Greendale, G. A. (2021). Hormones and bone loss across the menopause transition. Vitamins and Hormones, 115, 401–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.vh.2020.12.016

NAMS 2022 Hormone Therapy Position Statement Advisory Panel. (2022). The 2022 hormone therapy position statement of The North American Menopause Society. Menopause, 29(7), 767–794. https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000002028

Taylor, S., Islam, R. M., Bell, R. J., Hemachandra, C., & Davis, S. R. (2023). Endogenous testosterone concentrations and muscle mass, strength and performance in women, a systematic review of observational studies. Clinical Endocrinology, 98(4), 587–602. https://doi.org/10.1111/cen.14874

Tehalia, M. K., Agarwal, S., Lalwani, A., & Sharma, S. (2026). Estrogen deficiency in menopause: A major contributor to cartilage degeneration and osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Menopausal Medicine, 32(1), 18–29. https://doi.org/10.6118/jmm.25141

Wright, V. J., Schwartzman, J. D., Itinoche, R., & Wittstein, J. (2024). The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause. Climacteric, 27(5), 466–472. https://doi.org/10.1080/13697137.2024.2380363