marathon

I am currently two and half months into my marathon training with another month and a half to go until the big race. I run between 5-6 times a week, with runs varying between 5-29 kilometers. This all sounds very impressive, but fear not… I’m not hear to brag. I’m here to tell you all about my favorite mistake and how that mistake has harmed my training process.

Here it is. I like cutting corners. What does that mean? Well let’s put in into non-runner terms first. Let’s say you’re cleaning the kitchen after a big meal. It’s really filthy and you have no idea how you will get through it all. You start cleaning, you do a really awesome job – the dishwasher is running, you did the rest by hand (including drying and putting away), the counters and spick span. Looking good! But then you realize… the stovetop is gross. It’s all covered in grease and spills. But here’s the thing, you just spent the last 45 minuets making the kitchen so nice, you feel so accomplished, you don’t want to spend another five minutes scrubbing the stovetop. You want to reward yourself by sitting on the couch with a cup of tea while you watch Netflix.

So what do you do? You leave it there! You hope no one will notice. It’s not that big of a deal anyway. WRONG. Your dad walks in the next morning, sees the stove, gets pissed off and won’t let you leave the house until it’s clean. Only because you let those greasy spills sit overnight, they are now much harder to clean.

Unfortunately, I have taken this awful trait and applied it to my running as well. Let’s elaborate: training for a marathon is more than just running. You are forcing your body to adjust to something completely new. Your joints have never taken the strain before. Your body hasn’t yet fully adapted to burning fat when on long runs. Your bones are adjusting to the new impact they are receiving on a daily basis. Your muscles and tearing and re-knitting themselves. There are a lot of things going on. In order to make sure that those things adjust smoothly and safely there are several steps that need to be taken.

What are those steps? They are knee exercises, core workouts, strength exercises, stretches and more. Here is an example of last weeks workout made by my online coaches:

See all those little green signs? Those are my “extra” exercise that I am supposed to do in order to maintain good marathon running shape. Here’s the thing… I ignored them all.

Basically, I would scroll to the bottom, see how many kilometers I have to run that day and wake up early enough to get in the exact amount of kilometers and also have time for shower and breakfast. I was willing to wake up an hour early to go for a run, but for some reason I was not willing to wake up an hour and half early to get in the extra exercises I was assigned. In my mind I figured it was already “impressive” enough for me to be going out for a run everyday, why do I need to do all this extra stuff? My catch phrase was “I don’t got time for that **sassy finger snap**”.

How has this cutting of corners affected my training? I’ll tell you how! I hurt. By skipping out on knee exercises and not taking enough walking breaks, my knees know complain every time I do a long run. By not doing core and ab exercises, I am forcing my leg muscles to take much more heat on my runs. By not doing general strength and ignoring my upper body, my shoulders and back hurt from tensing up when I run. By not stretching my lower body, my legs have become stiff and un-flexible, leaving me with occasional brutal shin pains.

Yes, it is impressive that I am able to wake up at 6:30 in the morning to “squeeze” a 5k into my busy schedule, but it’s not impressive when my body decides to crash and burn on a 20k run later that week because I couldn’t be bothered to put in the tiny bit of extra work.

I let my body sit in filth overnight and now I have to spend the next month and half scrubbing it off before the marathon. I made a mistake and now I have to work even harder to fix it.

Cutting corners hurt my training, but it’s also not a quality that I want to have in my life. I want to do things to the fullest. No more skimping.

So goodbye corner cutting! I hope that we don’t meet again.

Running can be intimidating. Whether it’s the idea of starting out as a first time runner, or if you have already tried it out and know the difficulties first hand. Expectations are often set too high, and disappointment almost always ensues. Many beginner runners know how easy it is to be discouraged out of going for a run. Need some examples?

I have a blister
My stomach hurts
It’s raining
I’m tired
Period
Friends in town
I’d rather eat ice cream

We’ve all been there. What people don’t tell you is that there are no set rules to running. Everyone has to find their own groove.

I used to think that if I didn’t manage to get my run in first thing in the morning, then I basically lost my opportunity that day. This is discouragement talking. I do not turn into a werewolf the second I see the moon, running at night is ok.

I used to think that if I didn’t have time for anything less than a 5k then I shouldn’t run at all. Again, discouragement talking. Twenty minutes of running is better then no minutes of running.

I used to think that running couldn’t be fun, that it was strictly for exercise and that it requires loads of self discipline, etc… Excuses.

Maybe you are just starting out and you can’t run for more than two minutes at a time. You might think to yourself “What’s the point”? But instead of comparing yourself to people who have been training for years and are running marathons, compare yourself to the person you were yesterday who didn’t bother even running in bursts of two minutes at a time. If that’s your groove, that’s ok. Everyone gets better.

What helped me get into my groove? I set myself a goal – running a marathon. That made it competitive for me, which made it fun. It made me excited to reach my goal every week. Another thing that made me love running is audiobooks. I love the fact that every time I go for a run I get to listen to a story at the same time. It passes the time and distracts me from any negative aspects of the run. Also, I made a rule that I can only listen to my favorite books when I’m running, so if I’m eager to hear the next chapter I have to put on my running shoes and earn it.

I learned that I am a morning person. I love the feeling of getting in a run first thing in the morning. I started spending more time with my Dad who became my official running buddy. I learned what I like and what I don’t like about running.

Running is individual. You can read all the information in the world and buy the fanciest shoes and gear, but at the end of the day the only thing to do is to do what feels right. Buy the shoes that feel comfiest, not the ones that come most recommended. Walk if you need to. Listen to a book. Make a special playlist. Give yourself rewards. Listen to your body.

The moment that I felt like a true runner was the moment that I stopped comparing myself to other people and started realizing the awesomeness of my own accomplishments.

You might think that running just isn’t your thing… but maybe you just haven’t figured out how to make it your thing.

Up to you.

I do run run

My Favorite Mistake

Find Your Groove