The other day at the local track, I witnessed a young 20-something do everything wrong. I’m not here to make fun. To be perfectly honest, it was rather painful watching him suffer unnecessarily. And yet, the mistakes he made were the same kinds of mistakes I see runners making every day. They were mistakes of omission and commission, of being unprepared and then trying to compensate with misdirected effort.
To wit: Wearing too many layers on a warm day, he began showing classic signs of dehydration while carrying no water, electrolytes, or calories. After starting way too fast, our overheated and underhydrated runner became increasingly slower before bonking entirely. This wasn’t a workout. It was a slog.
Trouble was brewing before he even started running, given an awkward static stretching routine that made him look like a crane hopping on one leg. Again, not here to make fun. All of us have probably committed at least one of these mistakes recently, and I will confess to having been guilty of all four at the same time. Just like the poor bro who collapsed in a corner before shuffling slowly back home.
We spend a lot of time talking about how to get the most out of our running, but sometimes it can be instructive to review what not to do. That’s our focus behind the paywall for paid subscribers.