Hi PlentyGood. Thanks for your post. I can relate to your feelings of not wanting to open up old wounds. I also understand the hesitation about going to meetings. Not that many months ago I had all sorts of fears and hangups about going to therapy and meetings.
What helped me is when I told myself that I didn't have to sign up for a lifetime of sitting on the therapist's couch. I didn't have to submit to a whole program. I could try these things out for a bit and see whether they worked for me. Therapy, mainly in a group setting with some individual sessions when I need extra support, has been incredibly helpful. I went to one ACoA meeting a few months back and didn't feel like I meshed well with that particular group or structure, but just yesterday I decided to try out an Al-Anon meeting. The people there were incredibly welcoming (I cried during the majority of the meeting) and supportive.
I still have some reservations, questions, etc., but Al-Anon suggests that you go for six meetings before you decide whether to become a member, and I think I'm going to do that.
I should add that I tend to stick to the ACoA part of this forum when I'm here but I felt more comfortable at an Al-Anon meeting, so, as someone else said, you can go to both or just one and give it a shot. And I should also add that I had been thinking about going to Al-Anon for months and finally just did it, so take your time and give yourself a lot of room to do what's best for you, even if that means not making a decision right now.
P.S. I'm also a runner! :-)