Here’s another insight from the master of running psychology, Bill Rodgers: The single best thing you can do to ensure consistency in running is to get yourself one or more good training partners.
Training partners will make it infinitely easier to achieve all of the habits of success I’ve described above. They’ll get you out the door. They’ll make your time for running seem more legitimate to yourself and others because it will be viewed as an appointment. They’ll keep you out there when the going gets tough. They’ll be sounding boards for and aids to formulating and progressing toward your goals.
It’s impossible to say enough good things about good training partners. The runners who have reached their potential completely on their own are by far the exceptions.
Performance aside, nurturing a pool of training partners will help your running simply because it will help your life. A few hours together a week on the road will forge friendships of a quality that are hard to initiate elsewhere in normal adult life.