What an Olympics it was! I hope you were able to enjoy it, I know I managed to watch almost the entire track and field program and it was fantastic!
Are you feeling inspired by watching the Olympians perform their amazing feats? Feeling fired up and ready to step up your training?
Whether you’re new to running, interested in doing a 5K, or you’ve been around the block a few times like I have, remember to temper your enthusiasm a bit so you don’t burn yourself out.
New Runners
If you’re new to running, first of all, welcome! It’s great to have you in this fabulous sport of ours! I do have a few reminders for you, though. I’m not bringing these things up to be hard on you or as a hazing ritual. I am bringing them up because I hope you stick to this wonderful sport for the long term.
- Start slow. Take walk breaks if you need to. Heck, just plain walk if you need to. We all need to start somewhere. If you start by going too hard, you’re not going to last. If you start with caution, you will stay healthy and hopefully motivated. A good guideline is “conversational pace”. If your breathing would allow you to hold a conversation, you’re not running too hard. If not, you are running too hard.
- Be patient. Running is a great way to practice patience. Unfortunately, if you don’t get that practice down, it can have repercussions. Be willing to do the same thing tomorrow as you did today. In fact, be willing to back off a bit tomorrow if what you did today was a lot. Running isn’t a sport where you see big progress from day to day. It’s a sport where you take your time and, when you look back in 6 months, that’s when you can appreciate how far you’ve come.
- Have a plan but be willing to adjust. There’s a huge benefit in having a plan to progress to where you want to get. However, being too rigid with the plan is a recipe for disaster. Be willing to adjust based on how your body is responding.
- Listen to your body. This is probably the most important thing for any new runner to learn. From knowing what easy is to knowing when you need a little extra rest because something doesn’t feel right, this skill will keep you healthy and strong.
Experienced Runners
Hopefully, if you’re an experienced runner, you know those guidelines for new runners. However, even the most experienced of us can forget. Don’t forget to at least skim through those guidelines and remember the importance of them.
As for other thoughts, when we feel a sudden rush of motivation, remember a few guidelines, some of which may remind you of the advice for beginners.
- Don’t change too much, too soon. Be patient, give your body time to adapt to changed training.
- Keep in mind different contexts. It’s fun to look at the training of the elites and we can get good ideas that we might implement into our own training. However, we also need to keep in mind what the elites are doing that we aren’t. Sometimes, given vastly different circumstances in which we are doing our training, training in the “real world” should in fact look much different than the training of the elites.
- Always listen to your body. Adjust the plan as needed. Remember, you’re better off taking a day or two off early than getting yourself badly hurt and requiring weeks or months off. The body usually gives warning signs before something bad happens. It’s your job to listen to it.
I know this sounds like a negative post with a lot of warnings. That isn’t the intent. I know I’m fired up after watching the incredible performances in Paris! I just want to make sure we remember to do things in a sustainable way.