Happy Friday! First, some running excitement: On Wednesday I won a race entry to the FLIP Darby Creek Trail 10k! It's tomorrow morning and while I haven't prepared for the race (or trails), I'm happy I won because I wanted to sign up but kept talking myself out of it. I was focused on tomorrow's 14 miler with my running group, but now I've decided to just break it up and run after the race. I may not run my fastest trail time, but it looks like it'll be gorgeous. I hope I can grab photos along the way. (Really wish my Toolbelt Rogas were getting here before Monday for extra pocket space!)
Anyway! I'm linking up with Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia to bring you this week's theme: Running Tips. I have a few for runners starting out (since I'm not too far along in the grand scheme of things.) Here are five things I wish someone had told me in the beginning:
SLOW DOWN
This is the most important! In college I tried to run a few times and hated it. When I finally came back to running, the biggest change I made was going slower. It made a world of difference and suddenly running didn't feel so terrible.
Gradually build distance
I've since heard the advice, "don't add more than 10% to your milage from one week to the next," but in the beginning my friend and I followed a rough Couch to 5k plan. We ran the same course over and over. Even on tough days we could usually push ourselves to run a minute longer each time.
Track your miles
I'm a Type A person and tracking my miles on MapMyRun probably helped keep me active (I like gold stars). I know some people feel the same about Fitbits; just seeing the data makes you want to get out and be active. Sure, in the early days (/months/year) I *only* ran a few miles a week, but over a month it looked pretty impressive.
Be friendly
Wave, smile, or say hi to fellow runners. We're all in this together!
Don't compare yourself to others (!!!)
I'm constantly remembering this. My hubs Alex is SO FAST without training, but I've realized he's a natural runner. On the internet (hello Instagram!) I see so many non-pro ladies who run farther and faster every day. It doesn't matter. They could be on year 10 and marathon 14. You never know! At the end of the day, run for yourself. You'll never enjoy it if you're constantly trying to prove yourself (and incidentally, I feel this way about life in general.)
That's all for my tips. Basic stuff, but I wish I'd taken these things to heart many moons ago. I love running and only wish I'd been at it longer!
Your last tip is oh so important especially with social media advances! I've been guilty of this before, but in the end, I find running so much more enjoyable when I do it for ME.
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