Running Lessons

For what appears to be a simple sport, there's a lot to know and learn about running, and since it's always been my favourite triathlon leg I've been a student of sport for years, both as a triathlete and a runner. Here's some of the lessons I've learned.

Running is hard on your body
Anybody who's run a bit will know how hard it is on your body - feet, legs, hips, back, etc. It takes time for your body to adapt to anything, and running is especially the case...DOMS is the great reminder that your body hasn't adapted to the workload you're putting it under. The fact it is hard on your body is important to remember at any stage of your running development, and I've certainly fallen foul of doing more than I can handle with an (almost) inevitable injury as the result. So the main lesson is to hasten slowly with running, and give your body time to adapt, using the combination of duration, frequency and intensity as the variables you have control over.

Running form is important
When running, gravity is your biggest obstacle with every step. Your muscles not only propel you forwards, but also keep you erect so it makes sense to ensure you have optimum alignment of your body position so your energy use is more efficient. There's a lot more to running form, but being upright is at the core (pardon the pun) of good running form. Running form is a skill you should practice in every session, with a combination of drills and exercises to help develop and maintain it. The lesson is that the more efficient and more resistant your form is to fatigue the better runner you will be.

Time on your legs is key
In contrast to swimming and cycling where easy sessions are little more than time consuming and have little benefit to your fitness, running is different in that almost any running at almost any pace will help you develop the fitness and durability that will help you to withstand more running...which is key to improving. Easy runs do have a distinct role in a program, as it is time on your feet. Long, slow runs have multiple roles, part of which is time on your feet. This lesson says that all running will have some fitness benefit...so just run!!

You need to be able to run slow to run fast
Further to the previous point, where just running is at the heart of any program that will lead to improvement, a vast majority of your running will be at slow, easy and comfortable pace. The cumulative build up of miles and the associated endurance and strength it provides is the foundation to doing faster and harder running. Using a common analogy with a house...these the slow, easy miles are the foundation upon which you build the walls, roof and fittings. The risk in running too hard when you should be running easily is mainly about the risk of injury, but also undermines a structured approach to training and the benefits that come with it. The lesson is to enjoy the process of running easily, because it underpins all your other training and fitness.

If you think you're injured you probably are
Many runners will get injured. It is a fact of life. But like many things, early intervention is crucial to ensuring the problem is "nipped in the bud" early before what might be a 3-day injury becomes a 3-week injury. The most important part of this is being honest with yourself about when you think you've got a problem...if you think it might be an injury, it probably is, and continuing to train will only serve to make it worse and pro-long the matter. It's easy to fool yourself and push on, but this is not desirable, whereas getting it checked out to understand what it is and taking appropriate steps to deal with it, is. The lesson is to be honest and proactive about anything that might be an injury.

Runners are not all hairy leg, bad fashion, headband wearing geeks
Parts of the running community have a long history in the sport, and are reminiscent of a stereotypical running geek with hairy legs, t-shirts from 80's fun runs, and often with a beard (for men). However, don't let those crusty demons taint your general opinion of runners, who come from all walks of life, sizes of people, speeds, fashion sense and more, much like a cross-section of general community. Runners are nice folks!!!