Does solo mean alone?

When I first started working out I wanted to do it alone. I didn't have the confidence to share it with anyone except my trainer. I felt very vulnerable and awkward, as if I was pretending to be an athlete. As I got more comfortable with myself and my physical efforts,  I found that I wanted to share my experiences, good and bad, with someone else. The most obvious person would be my husband, but he was avoiding working out at all costs at that time. He didn't want to share in my experiences as much as I wanted him to. My family and friends were supportive, but I could tell that some of them couldn't understand the change that had come over me.

Fast forward a year and I have created a network of support with those same friends and family. I still enjoy working out alone most of the time. It is my time to sort thoughts out, conquer demons, and push myself beyond what I am comfortable doing. I look forward to my training sessions with Bryce once a week, but beyond that I do my runs and training sessions solo. But I don't feel alone in the process. My husband has ventured into the gym and now goes regularly 3 times a week. He is reluctant to work out with me. Instead of feeling resentful about that, he and I share time outside the gym. Comparing and talking about our workout sessions has become a typical dinner conversation over the past few months. I was even able to come up with a monthly challenge that Brian agreed to do with me -- 1 minute planks every day for the month of September. That is a new venture for us to do together. We both understand and support each other's separate and personal fitness journey. Our journeys are different, but our healthy outcomes are similar. We share and support each other, even though we workout separately.

There might come a time where I find a training partner who has similar workout methods and goals to train with, but until then, I am content finding support away from my training sessions and my runs. My friends and family are there to celebrate my victories with and commiserate in my frustrations and sore muscles. I work out solo, but not alone.