5 Secrets Of Running Success
Running progress can be marked by more than faster mile splits and PBs
Speed is by no means the only way to judge your progress
RUNNING WELL REQUIRES LOTS OF INGREDIENTS. Yet of all the things we improve upon as we progress, we often focus solely on speed – faster mile splits, new PBs etc. While it’s tempting to define success with a metric as black and white as speed, running itself is a beautiful shade of grey. True success is not just how fast you run, but also the many layers that require focus and contribute to improvement. Through hard work, experience and consistency, we become better runners in many ways. Here are five factors to consider when reflecting on your own success.
Proper preparation
The time we reserve to prepare sets the tone for the run or workout ahead. Taking a few minutes to warm up, incorporate drills and create the right environment to give our best in the upcoming effort sends a signal to our bodies that it’s time to go. Budgeting time to prepare is hard and often overlooked, but failing to do so adds layers of stress, leading to diminishing returns in our performance.
While it may seem difficult to measure preparation and translate that into success, it’s actually quite simple. Start paying attention to your level of readiness and notice if there is a direct correlation to your performance that day. Did you prepare your clothes, gear and playlist the night before so you weren’t rushed to get out the door? Did you allow proper time for a pre-run dynamic warm-up and a decent postrun stretch? These are easy yes or no answers. Jot them down or make a mental note, and see how they affect each run.
Consistent habits
Building fitness, discipline and consistency are key to generating success. When we are consistent in training, we make investments in our future fitness levels. Tracking the consistency of our runs and workouts allows us to gain a better understanding of our goals and a realistic mindset of what is possible – and also necessary – to achieve them. This spills over to our nutrition, hydration and recovery habits as well, which helps us learn more about
ourselves. Enhanced performance is directly related to mindful and consistent efforts in all areas of our running. The next time you have a tough run or feel sluggish, forget how it felt; forget your time or pace. Just ask yourself if you’ve been consistent that day (or week, or month), and focus on maintaining those r habits.
Improved energy systems
One thing great runners have in common is that they run a lot. In order to do this, you need to have a solid aerobic base. Sure, we want to run faster, but what about running further? Building our aerobic base is an important element of training and is something that happens gradually over long periods of time (see right). To improve our performance, we must train our bodies to run and recover more efficiently than before. This allows us to better utilise oxygen, which leads to muscular adaptations, quicker recoveries and the ability to run longer. Performing specific workouts that properly challenge our different energy systems results in an improved work capacity. Testing
VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen your body can utilise during exercise) is one of the most common ways to measure aerobic efficiency and work capacity, but another easy and useful indicator is your heart rate. Having a lower heart rate during training is a sign that you’re building fitness and have successfully improved your energy systems.
Positive mindset
We don’t magically develop mental strength and toughness overnight. It can take weeks, months and even years to make progress. But with experience, hard work, discipline and sacrifice comes improvement. Practising positive mantras and valuable self-talk gets us through challenging moments of doubt. As a result, we train harder. We listen to our bodies more closely. We dig a little deeper on race day because we know what we’re really capable of achieving. We learn how to tolerate discomfort and hardships in training so that we can reach for these mental-strength skills when it counts. While positivity is a bit nebulous, ask yourself these questions: did I enjoy the run? Was I able to keep going and push through moments of difficulty when I wanted to quit? Was my run the mental break in my day that I needed to give me clarity, energy and time to myself? If the answer to each of these questions is yes, then you know you succeeded in remaining positive.
Increased awareness
While running is often an independent sport, there is a strong community component. Using it as a tool to grow awareness, funding and support for an important cause is yet another way – and perhaps the most selfless one – to achieve success. When we run for the purpose of others in need, we think less about ourselves and more about the greater cause. It fuels us and inspires us, and others. To do this, find someone or something you are passionate about. Commit to a measurable goal of miles completed, funds raised or another form of assistance. There are countless hardships and struggles in our world that need attention and support. We are all so fortunate that we can help by doing what we love most: running.