How to not dread running.

It’s warming up and the sun has been shining (kind of). You could almost say it was running season.  I have to admit however, at the when it first started warming up this year I was dreading starting to run.  Memories of last year's misery haunted me and I was seriously contemplating giving the whole thing up.  Ultimately I did give running one another shot.

So how are things going this year?

Pretty darn well actually. Better than ever even! This year I’ve earned PRs for every distance Strava keeps track of, I haven’t suffered any injuries and I’m genuinely enjoying myself. This is much better than last year. Last year I had a short and fairly miserable season, plagued with injuries.

Last year I had a few goals tied up with running. I wanted to run longer and faster than I ever had. I had really detailed goals for each week of the summer, how far I should be running and at what pace. I tried to make sure I never broke the “10% rule” adding too much distance each week, but this still totally backfired. I ended up with pain in my knees, which I absolutely did not want to mess with. Once that was cleared up I had persistent shin splints that I finally couldn’t tolerate any longer.

So what am I doing differently this year?

This year I have no goals around running. Well, almost no goals. The only goal I really have is that I get out and do it and enjoy myself without getting injured.

I think last year I was worried I wouldn’t get out and run, unless I had very well defined goals I was aiming to reach each and every week. Turns out I really enjoy running and don’t need much extra motivation to get out and do it. I just feel great afterwards. I had a lot of monotonous runs last year. Same route, same distance, over, and over, again. This year I’m changing things up and keeping things interesting. Different routes, short, long (long for me right now is 10k), easy runs, fast runs, easy runs that turn into fast runs. I’m even starting to throw in some track workouts.

I’m also not pushing myself nearly as hard. I’m not really focused on building my base too much.  I looked at what was a normal distance for me last year (20 km per week) and am just sticking around there for now. I also, added back in some weight training to my routine. I’ve found that if my legs are strong I just feel like I’m a lot more comfortable running long distances and am less likely to get injured. There is a flip side of this however. Push too hard with squats and deadlifts and your legs are too tired to run well. Worse yet overworking your legs could make you more injury prone. Again I am finding what is comfortable and sticking with that for a while only pushing myself when what I’m doing feels way too easy. No more adding 5 lbs to my squat weight every time I walk in the gym...

If you feel like you’re in a rut or want to give up your running routine these are my suggestions at the moment.

• Relax. Let go of any unnecessary overly specific goals. Just get out there and have fun
• Change things up. Don’t get stuck doing the same thing every single time you lace up your running shoes.
• It’s ok to stop building your base. If by the end of the week you can’t imagine adding another 10% in distance the following week, don’t. Stick with what you know you can do or even back off a bit. There’ll be time to continue building your base later.
• Do what feels right for that day: If you “need” to run a 10k today because it’s what you planned, it’s ok to do shorter. Vice versa if you only plan on doing a 5k but feel like you have a lot more in you, go for it.
• Add strength: Throw some weight training into your routine but don’t push it too much.

If you’re a runner how are things going for you this year? Trying anything different than last year?

P.S. Ironically enough, shortly after writing this post, one of my knees has started to give me trouble.  It appears to be a classic case of runner's knee.  I actually think this has a lot to do with the fact that I cut back on weight training over the last month.  Most of these injuries as caused by being too weak or too inflexible.  It's all a learning experience I suppose.  

I was, however, able to recover enough in time to run the Cherry Festival 10k.  And, I think my overall attitude towards running this year has made recovery a lot easier to deal with.  Still not 100% and I'm starting to really miss the meditative feeling of running but not having extra unnecessary goals nagging me into starting too early is nice.