5 DO’S AND DONT’S OF RUNNING
I have been running for over a decade now. During this time I have experienced many lows and many highs. None of which I would change. Good or bad they have shaped me as an athlete and as a man. Here are some of the biggest lessons I have learnt during this time.
Don’t – Compare yourself to others
Do – Focus on self-improvement daily
When you’re stood at the start line, it is you vs the person next to you. However, you truly cannot control the outcome. Sure, you can prepare your mind and body as best you can but you can’t control your fellow competitors' shape, tactics or performance, so why worry about that? Focus on doing what you need to do, day after day and the rest will be history.
Don’t – Try to copy your idols
Do – Adapt training to meet your individual needs and current ability
With advancements in technology, the internet and apps such as Strava, in just a few clicks we can access Olympic athletes training. Whilst I think this is great for inspiration we should not try to copy their training. We have to put their work into context. They are full-time athletes, they have the luxury to spend the whole day recovering, they are a lot more experienced, have access to physiotherapists, and state-of-the-art facilities and the list could go on. Take inspiration from their incredible performances and channel that into your own running.
Don’t – Over complicate things
Do – Keep things simple
Most of the time we can overcomplicate running. When in actual fact it is a fairly simple sport. Run a lot, most of the time run easy and occasionally run hard. Now, I must admit that is possibly an oversimplification but you get the jist. We can often become too caught up in the data when all we really need to do is hit start on our stopwatch and put one foot in front of the other
Don’t – Try and skip ahead
Do – Be patient and find joy in the journey
Ask anyone that knows me relatively well, I am so impatient. I want it all and I want it now. This was no different for my running. For many years I had the attitude of if I can run all my easy runs at 6:00 mins a mile and then do my sessions at sub 5:00 mins a mile, I am going to get so fit. Or another one was if I train with a 13:30 guy I should be able to run 13:30 as well (at the time my pb was 16:09). This is a one-way ticket to injury – which in my case happened on both occasions - I ended up with a stress fracture in my femur and a stress fracture in my metatarsal. You often have to have a hard reality check and admit where you are truly at. You have to check the ego slightly and say “that is where I am heading, but this is where I am at now” and work with that.
Don’t – Take things for granted
Do – Celebrate the victory no matter how big or small
Athletes are hard to please. Often we cross the finish line of a race we have spent months planning for, the race goes really well and we come away with a new personal best. Yet a lot of the time we start thinking, “I could have gone quicker”. Instead, we should be appreciative of the hard work we’ve put in and thank our bodies for doing something it has never done before! This rule is not limited to just running a PB either, maybe we have an injury and we’ve done our first pain-free run, which should be celebrated.
I hope you learnt something and hopefully don’t make the same mistakes I did. If you’re looking to become the best athlete you can be, get in touch today and learn how Mako Running can help you!
Take Care and Happy Running :)
