The Two Major Challenges of Learning to Run

From one new runner to others

I started doing the Couch to 5K program a few weeks ago and it has been a significant positive impact to my life and self-confidence. I have learnt a lot on this journey particularly about the physical and mental challenges you face when you start running. I have some thoughts I want to share that I believe could be helpful for new runners. These are the two biggest challenges of learning to run that I wish I’d known at the start of my journey. I want to start by talking about the physical challenges.

Run boy, run

I started running a few weeks ago having had no previous experience with running or any kind of exercise. What I now realise is the first few weeks of my Couch to 5K journey was all about confronting and managing the physical trials of running. I struggled in the first week to complete all my runs. At the beginning, my cardiovascular system just couldn’t cope with the stresses of physical activity. It is pretty remarkable how quickly you become comfortable with extended sessions of running though. I can now run for 30 minutes straight, which was inconceivable at the start of this journey. In reality, this is not much of a surprise, human beings are built to run.

After struggling with getting my cardio fitness up, I suffered from the dreaded plantar fasciitis in the first few weeks of running. Plantar fasciitis causes a sharp pain at the back of the heel — the pain is worst early in the morning. It’s caused by a range of different things, but it is a very common injury in runners. After consulting a doctor to make sure I wouldn’t be doing any more damage, I powered through the pain and the discomfort went away within a few days. I have also suffered painful elbow joints, probably as a result of my running technique. Running is a sport associated with little injuries. About 50% of runners will experience some injury over the course of a year according to Chris Napier in The Science of Running. I think it is a matter of knowing when to stop and when to power through. It’s important to get proper professional opinion if you’re not sure what to do. Once you have the confidence to know what your body is physically capable of, it should be easy going from there, right? Well no, unfortunately you have to conquer the next challenge — the mental doubts.

I can’t do this

I am a huge fan of tennis, so I have heard many times how the mental side of sport is as important as the physical. I have never had a better understanding of that sentiment as I do now. After I built up my stamina and learnt to manage the small injuries, I thought I was good to run until my physical condition wouldn’t allow. But it turns out your mind can play some cruel tricks on you when you attempt to do something physically demanding. Even as I ran comfortably at good pace this morning, I was thinking about quitting the whole program early. I got a minor cramp in my foot which I’ve easily dealt with before. This time though, I found myself thinking, “well I know I can run the distance; this is Week 8 of 9 so we are basically done, let’s call the whole thing off now”. Thoughts getting in the way of my running goals is now a bigger challange for me than actually running. Getting a handle of your mind is tougher than building up your physical condition, I’ve found. This apparently scales all the way to elite athletes too. More and more tennis players have been working with a sports psychologist to keep the mind in check. Iga Swiatek who won the 2020 French Open tournament out of the blue credits that achievement in part to working with a psychology coach. For us non-elite recreational runners, I think it is very important to just pay attention to where the mind goes as you are running, focus on your goals and use the mind to get you there instead of allowing it to distract you.

Ready? Off you go

We talk about the mind and body as two separate entities, because that’s how it feels. In reality they are inextricably linked — if your mind starts to doubt your physical abilities, the body will comply. Luckily, this works the other way round too — you can train your mind to push your body a little further when it comes to running. This has been my experience of learning to run over the last few weeks. I am 3 more runs from completing the Couch to 5k challenge and still my mind questions if I have the physical ability to go the distance. It is a very strange phenomenon that goes on there.

If you are a new runner, work on building up your physical condition and learn to understand which injuries and setbacks need time to heal and which you can keep running with. Getting that right is crucial — if you overdo it, you risk more serious injury; if you stop when you could keep going, you lose momentum and are less likely to pick up where you left off. Once you have confidence your body is physically ready for the challenge, it’s important you don’t let your mind convince you otherwise.