How To Make Running a Habit
Lessons from 20 Years Of Running
1. Start Where You Are, Not Where You Think You Should Be
You might tell yourself, “I’m going to do this. I’m going to stop eating sweets and staying up late!’ “I will buy running shoes and start drinking smoothies”. “I’m going to run three or four times a week!” “This time I will do it!”
Slow down, Kipchoge.
One week later, you are seated on your couch, remote in hand when the doubts start creeping in. You might think:“ Who was I kidding? “I’m too out of shape. I can’t play with my toddler without getting winded” or “I’m too old to run. I’ll ruin my knees,” or “No one in my family runs,” or “I have too much going on right now- I will try again next month.
Ambition is necessary, but it is important to start small. Push yourself too hard and you risk getting overwhelmed or worse sidelined by an injury
At the start aim for three days of a run-walk routine.
2. What Are Your Emotions Telling You?
In his book ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’, Daniel Kahneman postulates that your mind works at two levels. One level is rational. The other level is emotional. If your decision to run doesn’t resonate at an emotional level, then your emotional mind will sabotage all your efforts.
You want to get to a gut-level emotional core of your decision to start running.
The reason to capture your gut-level goal is that resolutions are not analytical acts. They are emotional and come from some deep place.
I started running to ‘fix my fat body’. In the prime of my adolescence, a boy from my high school nicknamed me fatty. He was the class clown; loud and proud. It was a mixed school and soon all the kids started laughing at me. I started running immediately after I completed high school.
3. Daily Movement Is the Most Important
You’re not an elite runner able to dedicate all your time to training, but you do need to move daily.
Take the stairs instead of the lift. Have a fifteen-minute walking lunch. Leave your car at home and walk to work. If you are using public transport, get off further away from home and walk the rest of the way.
4. Track Your Progress
A visual representation of a string of successes will push you toward maintaining the streak.
When I started running, I used a calendar to mark an ‘X’ for every day that I ran. It was a simple and effective strategy.
I now use Coach.me a habit app to track my daily progress.
As you track your progress include rewards for achievements; a movie, a new book or a long bath.
5. Set Up Your Mind for Running
You need a cue that tells your brain it’s time to run.
For me, it starts the night before as I lay out my gear and ends at the sound of my alarm the next morning.
I have a friend who sleeps in her running clothes.
A guy in my running group sends money to his colleague each time he misses a run.
Whatever it is, train your brain to shift into runner mode when the time comes.
6. Drop the Idea Of A Runner’s Body
There’s this stereotypical idea of what a runner’s body looks like: long, lean and seemingly made for logging up kilometres.
This ideal does not exist. Runners come in all shapes and sizes. Running moulds each of our bodies differently.
The ideal runner is the one who runs consistently.
7. Morning Or Evening Run
As you build your habit aim for consistency. Running regularly is more important than what time you run. Build your habit around your circumstances.
The main advantage of running first thing in the morning is that you have crossed it off your to-do list.
But evening runs can help you unwind from the challenges of the day.
Stay committed to running, but be flexible in your approach.
8. Run With or Without Music
I do some of my best thinking while on my morning runs. The quiet of my footsteps and the rhythm of my breathing allow me to visualise my goals and consider new angles to the problems I am facing.
But sometimes I do not want to think at all.
On those days I play a song on repeat and allow my thoughts to drift unattended.
These runs help me decompress and let go of anxious thoughts I might be holding.
9. You Can Run Alone or With a Friend
Either way, you showed up to run.
Running with a friend provides support and competition but you might feel guilty if you leave her behind.
Running solo helps you build strength and self-confidence.
Solo running allows you to slow down without holding up the group. You can listen more to what your body is telling you. You can avoid pushing yourself to the point of injury.
10. Warm Up And Cool Down Religiously
Think about warming up your muscles like you would warm up your car.
Warming up helps prepare your body for running. It increases the temperature and flexibility of your muscles and helps you be more efficient and safer as you run.
Cooling down gives your heart and blood vessels a chance to ease out of your run. It slows down your heartbeat and lowers your body temperature.
If you stop too fast, you could pass out or feel sick.
11. Take An Ice Bath
I am suggesting that you immerse the lower half of your body in ice or ice water for 10–15 mins after a workout.
Ice baths reduce inflammation and speed up recovery.
You will understand how your mind perceives pain- at the start, you will scream in agony, fighting the urge to jump out of the bath.
Hang in there, an interesting experience awaits you.
The jury is still out on the pros and cons of ice baths, but as a long-time runner, I advocate for them.
12. You Need To Eat
As a runner, you are going to have to change how you eat.
Food becomes more than nutrition, it is fuel for your runs.
Food helps you avoid fatigue and enables your hardworking muscles to recover after a workout.
Protein is important because it stabilizes your blood sugar and helps you feel fuller longer.
Foods higher in carbohydrate content are easy to digest and provide instant fuel.
13. But it’s Not An Excuse To Overeat
Running places higher energy demands on your body but this does not permit you to indulge in an ‘anything goes’ diet.
You need to consume enough calories to fuel strong workouts but not so many that you fail to shed excess body fat.
If you struggle with ‘runger’ try spacing your meals into five smaller portions. The steadier input of food staves off hunger by helping your body maintain stable blood sugar levels.
Nuts, fruits and carrot sticks help you avoid turning to calorie-laden food when you get hungry.
Listening to your body will help you avoid over fueling and under fueling.
14. Life Will Happen
You will get sick, get injured, lose a loved one, get married, start a family and travel for work.
You start off missing one day, then a week and soon a whole month or year {s!} has gone by. The gains in mileage, pace, fitness, and confidence disappear as quickly as they materialized.
When this happens, go back to the first point.
Running is a marathon, not a sprint.
15. Sometimes It Will Hurt, A Lot
Your bra strap will rub your shoulder raw, you will wake up with pain on the inside of your knee and your toenails will blacken and drop off.
And then the risk of more serious running injuries like sprains, breaks and other issues that can keep you sidelined.
It is important to listen to your body.
At the first sign of an issue, cut back on your mileage, reduce the intensity of your runs and seek treatment.
If you don’t get a handle on injuries they can turn into acute injury that sidelines you.
16. Cross Train
I will be honest with you.
There will be days when you get bored with running. Excessive repetition of routines and routes can become monotonous.
Enter cross-training.
Cross-training has a multitude of benefits. It increases endurance and builds strength without overstressing your joints and increasing your risk of injury.
It allows your body to recover from an overuse injury without losing your fitness.
Cross-training activities for runners include swimming, cycling, walking, strength training, yoga, and Pilates.
17. Get Adequate Sleep
The physical stress of running means you need more sleep than a non-runner.
Sleep helps your body recover from the strenuous effort exerted during a workout.
The most telling sign of sleep deprivation is daytime sleepiness. If you doze off in everyday situations, such as while watching TV, while riding in a car, after a meal, or at a staff meeting, then you are not getting enough sleep.
While there are exceptions to the rule, most runners need up to 8 hours of sleep, increasing to 10 hours after a marathon.
18. Consider Hiring a Running Coach
The landscape of your running will change as you progress. As your confidence and mileage increases consider hiring a running coach.
A running professional will help you train smarter and get fitter.
I hired a coach when my energy levels started plummeting. Despite following my regular sleep and diet routine I struggled to complete a week of running. I was physically drained after my runs.
If you cannot afford a running coach these apps can give you a helping hand at little or no cost.
1.Coach.Me
2. Runkeeper
4. Run Coach
5. Couch-to-5K
19. Replace Your Running Shoes
I have waited till the last thread to replace running shoes; when the white midsole material started poking through the outsole. And it cost me.
Your running style, body weight, and the surface on which you run will dictate how frequently you change your running shoes. But a general rule of thumb is between 600–700 kilometres {300–400 miles}
When you feel that your shoes are no longer providing you with adequate protection, it’s time to replace them.
20. Nothing New On Race Day
Stick with what you know on race day. It is not the day to try anything new, from shoes, sports bras, drinks, energy bars and music.
And do not attempt to pace set with a stranger- no matter how much you admire their form.
Eat, Sleep, Run, Repeat
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