So you Want to be a Runner: No Talent? No Problem

I stopped running competitively 4 years ago, and these days I only run when I’m in the right mood, not for exercise and not for relaxation.  For me, running is an aggressive activity that I do when I’m feeling the need to blow off steam.  Some people use a punching bag, I run.  I feel relaxed after I run.  But, I also feel relaxed after I do yoga or go for a long walk.  Running, then, becomes one of several sports that work well.  That being said, I know plenty of parents who want to run as a means to get in shape or because they have a personal goal such as a marathon they want to fulfill.  They see running as a means to decompress after a day of noisy children.  They want to be alone with their thoughts, and running works for them.  I’m in complete support of those goals, and that’s why I’m here to help.      

I’ve gotten questions from people who knew me when I was competitive wondering what they can do to improve.  They want to be better, but they’re worried that it’s natural ability that’s holding them back.  It isn’t.  Natural ability along with hard work and the right attitude can get a person to the Olympics, true.  But, it’s my belief that almost anybody, given proper training and having the right attitude, can get a medal at a local 5 or 10k or finish a marathon in a non embarrassing amount of time.      

It’s All About Attitude:      

I could be talking about any sport or activity when I talk about attitude, but I’m talking about running because, along with martial arts, that’s what I know.  The difference between my short lived martial arts career and my running is that I actually won a lot of races, whereas I got my butt kicked a lot at martial arts.  Was it natural ability that held me back at fighting?  No.  It was simply that I didn’t care much.  Win or lose, I didn’t care – I just liked the act of kicking and punching.  Getting more points than the next guy was irrelevant to me.      

Running was a different matter entirely.  When I lost a race, and it was bound to happen, I took it as a personal insult.  Losing drove me to hold grudges and it motivated me to smash my opponent the next time we met.  Winning, regardless of the pain I incurred in the process, was the most important thing.  Sportsmanship?  What’s that?  I found that the way to win was to genuinely believe that I was a better runner and a better person than my competition.  Is that healthy?  Who cares?  That’s not the point.  That’s how winning works, and that’s what it takes to get better at running, or anything else.  That’s why there are recreational runners who wonder why they can’t go faster than 10 minutes per mile, and there are runners whose only question is who is going to be their next victim.  If you want to get better, you’ve got to be fierce.  Pushing your body demands it; there’s no way around that fact.      

Chicken and the Egg:      

I know, you haven’t won anything yet; how can you pretend to be a winner when you aren’t one yet?  The answer is to recognize even your small victories, the ones you’ve been ignoring because you don’t think they’re important, as stepping stones to bigger things.  Have you ever been on a morning run and felt so good that your pace becomes much faster than usual?  That’s a victory!  Now, every time you hit the road you have that to remember.  It’s a waste of an accomplishment, if your intent is to get better, to not let it feed your ego.  When you can convince yourself, and it’s true, that your accomplishments are worth recognition, that’s when your self confidence gets a much needed boost.  The snowball just needs to get a little shove.  Most great athletes are arrogant pricks.  Some of them hide it better than others, but they mostly all are.  They’re arrogant because it’s required of them to win.  It’s their game face.  Thankfully, you and I aren’t them.  We’re recreational winners.  Nevertheless, you know you’ll have to start thinking more highly of yourself if you want to win.  Build on what you already have, and convince yourself you’re awesome.  That’s the first step.  Awesomeness is a self fulfilling prophecy.     

Technique:      

Okay, okay, I admit it.  You do need technique.  You can’t just go flopping around town flailing your arms and legs wildly through space and expect to win, or even to not hurt yourself.  You will, indeed, need a little technique.  But, technique can be taught, thankfully, and there are a number of resources that can help you.  For starters, there are little things you can do to reduce the chance of injury.  Take shorter strides, keep your fists loose and your arms swinging relaxed at your sides.  Your posture is quite important to your ability to conserve energy, and there are excellent trainers who have written books on just how to make your body cooperate with you.  With a little self examination and a few hundred laps around a track (not all at once) to pay attention to the little things, you will get better.  Here are some of my favorite books on running and training technique.            

The Lore of Running:  This book is truly the bible of running.  Everything you ever wanted to know is right here.  You don’t read it cover to cover. It’s a reference book for when you have specific questions.      

Galloway’s Book on Running:  Galloway has a unique running philosophy.  He advocates taking periodic breaks every few miles so that you can maintain a higher overall pace.  I ran 23 miles in 2 hours flat once while employing his technique (My IT band prevented me, on that occasion, from running the whole 26 miles.)            

Marathon: You Can Do It!: It’s also a Galloway book.  He has fantastic training routines for marathon training if that’s what you’re interested in.      

Daniels’ Running Formula:  It contains advice and techniques for shorter distances as well as the marathon.  Jack Daniels is a famous trainer who takes a more scientific approach than Galloway to running.  I used this book when I trained to break a 50 second quarter mile at age 32.    

Being a better runner is really only as simple as believing in yourself.  I know that sounds hokey, but it’s true.  It’s unfortunate that most people are so beaten down that they don’t recognize small victories even when they happen.  The result, naturally, is that, in the absence of accomplishments, people believe they are losers.  That sentiment is both untrue and completely reversible.  My advice to people who have convinced themselves of their own inferiority is to simply become conscious of all the little things they do that aren’t failures and build on them to achieve greater victories.  Again, does that sound simple?  Yes, it does; but of course it isn’t easy to undo years of self doubt.  It is, however, the only thing standing in their way.