Six questions to ask yourself before running again
Old shoes, new motivations, and building a running habit.
Since converting Running, Probably to a paid newsletter, I’ve lost connection with a whole lot of you. That’s unfortunate because I’ve missed your energy and enthusiasm. Hope you’re all doing well.
To keep those lines of communication open, I’ll be sending out a free Sunday newsletter on a semi-regular basis with various tips, tricks, and conversations with other runners to guide your adventures and pique your curiosity. While I hope you find these free newsletters useful and engaging, please also consider them an invitation to sign up for a paid subscription.
Let’s start back at the beginning. Spring is here, you’re getting the itch to get outside and go for a run. Maybe it’s been a while, or maybe you started running a bit during the pandemic and backed off during the winter slog. What better time to reset your running practice than right now?
Before you head out the door, take some time to ask yourself these questions.
Do you know how many miles you have on your shoes? If the answer is no, and you haven’t purchased a decent pair of running shoes in a while, you’re going to want to get your gait checked at a running store.
The folks who work at running stores should be able to diagnose how you run, and what kind of shoe will be right for you. No offense to large retail outlets, but you’re not going to get that kind of expertise and service anywhere else. Plus, locally-owned running stores are a great way to reconnect to your community.
Where should you run? Start by stepping right outside your front door. Explore your neighborhood, create loops, or just see where the road takes you. The sense of freedom one gets from leaving our modern world behind and simply moving your body is exhilarating. Some might even call it addicting.
Once you’ve settled into a routine and made running something like a habit, be prepared to switch things up to avoid falling into a rut. The last thing you should do is run the same route day after day. When in doubt, start your run in the opposite direction and try that familiar loop in reverse.
How often should you run? Probably not as much as you think. Start with three times a week until running becomes a routine. Once you’ve got a month or so of regular running under your belt, you can examine if a more structured training program is right for you.
Praise be to Hal Higdon, he has dozens of free plans available on his website. Hal got me through my first marathon, and helped me set PR’s in both the 5K and the half marathon.
Should you run fast? No, absolutely not. You should run slow enough to have a conversation with someone else. Even if that’s really, really slow. Like, way slower than you know you can run. Got it? Cool. Now slow down some more. There’s plenty of time to build yourself up to fast running. Right at the beginning, especially after a layoff, ain’t it.
We call this base building, and it’s something all runners do; from beginners to the most advanced ultrarunners. That’s the phase I’m in, as well. It’s not the most exciting training block, but it’s necessary to prepare your body to take on bigger mileage and tougher workouts.
Think about it this way: Would you go to a gym and immediately lift your max weight day after day with no buildup? Not unless you wanted to get hurt. Start slow and steady, then you can worry about blazing down the road.
Should you use a running app? Sure, if it helps motivate you, but you really don’t need one at this point. Instead of connecting to yet another data-sucking app, try keeping a written log of your running schedule instead. Here’s a page from mine:
For each day of the month, I list distance, location, and what kind of shoe I wore. In the bottom right corner is where I track my shoe mileage. I’ve kept this log going for the last eight years. Takes about 10 seconds to update and I never have to worry about finding old data. (The red M’s stand for when I made time for meditation, but that’s neither here nor there.)
What’s your motivation? This is the most important question, aside from the one about the shoes. (Seriously, get yourself into good shoes.) The longer you run, your motivation can, and will, change. It’s totally cool if all you’re trying to accomplish at the moment is getting outside for a little exercise. In fact, that’s the best reason of all.
No matter your initial inclination to run, keep asking yourself this question. The answers will sustain and nurture you as you make progress.
Here’s what you missed on Running, Probably:
A meditation about getting lost and finding your way back home.
Getting lost in a good run is an indulgence, but I think it’s an important one. Having some space to disengage from all the forces vying for our time and attention feels like a necessary intervention in our modern age. For all the good running does for our bodies and the wonderful things it stimulates in our brains, the intrinsic benefits always seem to get short shrift.
Instead, we get caught up in racking up miles and burning calories. Are we making progress or merely marking time? Are we getting somewhere or just staying the course? It’s not always clear, and it’s definitely not always linear. The effect running has on us is more subtle, sometimes so subtle that we can’t always see it for what it is until it's too late. By then, the magic’s gone and it’s back to the grind.
This week’s Friday Ramble went in depth on a punishing hill workout that brought me to the ‘border of pain and suffering’ -- it was fun, I promise -- along with a delicious chickpea curry recipe, and a lament for my ugly new shoes.
The first thing I had to do was find a suitable hill. Anyone who has ever looked for one knows this can be tricky business. Too much? Too little? Long enough, short enough, quiet enough? The mind reels.
“Because I had never run hill intervals this long before, I approached the workout with anxious trepidation. Could I even do this?
Last week’s Ramble had a thorough discussion about speedwork and the role it plays in a training program. Plus some rumination about running analytics, and life lessons from one of our family’s favorite series of children’s books. There was also a great conversation in the comments about framing some of the more pedestrian aspects of training.
Now that I’ve finally made peace with the futility of my former approach, I’m coming to appreciate the speed that’s been lying dormant all these years -- I still got it! -- and I’m looking forward to honing it, working with it, and getting to a place where I can put that speed to use when it counts.
Until you learn to harness it, speed can be a trap. Use it wisely.
I hope you’ll join us.
I was so excited to see a Running, Probably email in my inbox on a Sunday morning! Keep em coming, Paul! Here’s to staying connected.