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I never learned to run properly and learned to hate it instead
My running story starts back when I was in elementary school. I remember having an annual checkup with a doctor who looked at the length of my legs and noticed that one was slightly shorter than the other. This is quite common, but the doctor commented that because my right leg was shorter than my left, I wouldn’t be good at running bases in baseball. I don’t think the doctor meant to impact me negatively for the rest of my life, but I think that comment made me feel insecure about running in general, not just in baseball.
Later on in my high school years, I played football for one year. I definitely wasn’t the fastest on the team, but I felt pretty average. After watching me play in a couple of games, my mother made the comment that I ran weirdly. Again, I don’t think she intended to impact me negatively, but I didn’t play for a second year and never really did any solid running since. I have always enjoyed lifting weights, but when it came to cardio, I never preferred running over an elliptical or bicycle. When I got on a treadmill, I almost always walked instead. I used excuses like running being harder on our joints to avoid it altogether.
The catalyst to change
The driver that started me on a path of change was buying a treadmill for our home gym. Originally, I had the intent to buy it for my wife as she enjoyed running when we first met and had been wanting one. Part of our decision to buy a treadmill was determining how much use we would need to get out of the treadmill to make it worth the purchase. We determined that only having one person use the equipment would take much longer to make it worth the purchase. So, I committed to using it, too. Weirdly enough, the original decision was fueled by a financial justification rather than a well-being change. However, that has changed.
How I started
When it comes to fitness, I find that I am much more accountable to myself if I schedule everything out and follow a designed program rather than going in unprepared. A family member shared access to their Peloton account so that I could find running courses to run on my iPad. I found the “You Can Run” program.
This program consists of 2 classes per week for 8 weeks. It provides beginner-level instruction on the mechanics of running, including form, cadence, and pace. This program sounded perfect for my level of fitness, and my structure needs, so I signed up. It also fit in with the bare minimum I need to use the treadmill every week to meet my financial justification.
Where I am now
I just completed the “You Can Run” program about 3 weeks ago. I learned so much in the program and now feel much more confident in my running ability. The first thing that I learned during the program was the concept of cadence. A goal that many runners try to aim for is 180 SPM or strides per minute. Although that number can vary by individual, the Peloton coaches also suggested aiming for around 180 SPM. What this meant is that in a good jogging or running pace, we should always try to aim for 180 SPM.
In order to do this, we have to change our stride length. Shorter strides for slower speeds and longer strides for faster speeds. I have had a Garmin watch for years for cycling. I learned how to turn on cadence monitoring for running so that I could watch my cadence as I ran. As I got my cadence in line, I noticed a change in my running form that made running easier. I was much less winded and felt like I could easily maintain running for longer distances.
The second thing that I learned was running form. A component of running form is where your foot strikes the surface. Foot strike tends to vary by individual as well, but many advise a midfoot strike to help propel you forward and use your leg structures to provide some cushion from the impact. Once my cadence was corrected, I think I naturally fell into a midfoot strike, which helped my comfort, as previously noted. Another component of running form is your arms. I had trouble with my shoulders shrugging up when I ran. I learned to monitor this and keep my shoulders relaxed, and my elbows bent at 90 degrees.
The last major component of running that I learned was pace. There are paces that can allow us to run for much longer periods and paces that we can only maintain for very short periods of time. This all has to do with the build-up of lactic acid in our muscles and our body’s rate at which it can clear out that lactic acid. Faster paces mean much quicker build-up that our body cannot clear out as fast. So, during a full-effort sprint, our bodies will eventually shut down due to that build-up.
Learning to find my “conversational” pace was incredibly enlightening. A “conversational” pace is one we can maintain a conversation while running. This pace allowed me to run for much longer than I ever thought would be possible.
Where I want to be
I now enjoy running so much. I completely forgot about my financial justification for buying a treadmill and have started using it more than twice per week. With running I have more cardio exercises to help me vary my fitness. I just completed my first 5k run about 2 weeks ago. I also have one coming up in May with my wife and daughter.
I plan to continue using Peloton’s running programs to keep building. I want to increase my paces so that I can run even faster than I do now. I currently don’t feel like I would enjoy a half marathon, much less a marathon, but who knows? A few months ago, I felt the same way about a 5k, and that was a blast.
My advice to anyone who feels the same way that I felt about running is to give it a try and apply the techniques mentioned above. Research some more techniques yourself. Find an exercise program that you enjoy. You might find out that you actually enjoy running.
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