There is some truth to that, all you need is a decent pair of shoes, some shorts or sweatpants, and a t-shirt.
Especially if your jaunts are limited to a couple miles a week.
Running is a relatively easy sport to commit to. You don’t have to sign
up for any teams, pay any dues, or buy super expensive equipment to start out.
You can test the waters without blowing your budget. However, once the waters
are tested and confirmed, things get spendier.
That’s neither here nor there though. This blog is advice for runners,
whether you are getting started or already are and just like reading things
like this like I do!
Find what makes it “easy” for you. Not long ago, there was one of those
forwarded messages that circulated among me and some runner friends that was “75
things a runner thinks while running.” The one the jibed most closely for me
was one that said something along the lines of “Shoot, I’ve gotta do 5 miles.
Well, that’s only 2.5 miles out and then turn around. And that’s really just a
little bit more than 2 miles. I can do two miles.”
For me, breaking down a run like that is what sometimes gets me through
it. If I’m doing an out and back, it’s very easy to think “well, if I keep
going for another half mile, then when I turn around I’ll get a whole extra
mile in…I can do a half mile, that’s not that far. That’s like 5 minutes of
running. I can run for another 5 minutes.” Bethany gets through it by going
faster – the whole: the faster I run the faster I’m done mentality. She usually
kicks that mantra into gear on hills and when she wants a snack.
I also find that with the gym in the mornings – more so than running,
because running I always need a little more morning prep time than weights – if
I sleep in my sports bra and workout top so all I have to do is roll out of bed
and put my pants and shoes on I manage to get myself out that door before my
brain has registered what I am doing. And then of course once I’m in the car on
the way to the gym and out of bed and all that, there’s really only one thing
to do: go to the gym and work out. I just make sure my headphones and water
bottle are prepped the night before and on the table so I can just grab them as
I go past, and then you’re there before your brain can get awake enough to say,
“But…!”
Just find what works for you and go with it.
My other advice is to find your fuel. The best I advice I ever got from
another runner was, “You know that nauseous feeling you keep complaining about?
That’s your body telling you its hungry.”
Changed my life.
I have runner friends that swear up, right, left and center that they
could not now nor ever eat (and sometimes drink!) on a run because it makes
them feel terrible. I have found that sometimes I don’t need fuel, but most
often, I do! And I’m faster,
peppier, and feel better with fuel!
The key is to find the one you like, however. Some people like the Jelly
Belly Go Beans or whatever those are, some people like Gu, some people like
powder in their water…I’m a ShotBlock girl.
It motivates me to know that I get a snack every couple miles, and it
helps that they’re fruity delicious goodness fruit snacks. That somehow only
taste good when I actually need them.
I just got Amy hooked on ShotBlocks, and she eats them differently that
I do – only chewing on a block or maybe two when I’m wolfing down three, but
she was surprised to notice what a difference it made to have a snack every
couple miles and have water that she carried with her. She’s told me several
times, “Oh man, I didn’t think I was going to make it through that run I was
having such an off day, and then I had a ShotBlock and all of a sudden…wow!
Makes so much difference!”
Here's a good quote to live by:
"You must
listen to your body. Run through annoyance, but not through pain." -Dr. George Sheehan
No comments:
Post a Comment