25 Aug Started running this lockdown? Understand this One Thing to Maximise your Success
In order to maximise the 2 hour exercise limit and to ensure you don’t contract cabin fever during this lockdown, you have embarked on starting to run during this lockdown period!
One of your good friends is also keen so you both set a pact to run 3-4 days a week over the lockdown period with great intentions of getting and staying fit in time for summer.
Unfortunately you don’t have a plan and have found yourself starting to notice some niggles or an old injury has started to rear its head.
This is an all to common story I hear regularly and I believe it is my duty to help you not fall into this group and stay on the running track as long as you can!
“Most people don’t continue running because of three things. They don’t have a plan to follow, they lose interest OR they get injured!”
It goes without saying that the three reasons mentioned above intertwine with each other. So how do you ensure that you can continue running and what is the one thing you need to understand to maximise your success?
Knowing your WHY!
This isn’t a trick question but it’s one that a lot of my clients who walk through the door (often INJURED mind you!) can’t answer for me.
Do you want to run because of your mental health, is it tied to you wanting to lose weight, or do you just want to challenge yourself? There’s a plethora of reasons why we may chose to take up a new activity like running, but if you don’t understand WHY you personally want to run, then I can guarantee it will be harder to set a plan for your running, follow said plan and achieve what you want to achieve!
“Running makes me feel strong, energised and is great for my mental health. My goal is to run a half marathon in 12 weeks time?”
If we break this ‘WHY’ statement down, this person has set a goal which has an emotive connection and they’ve given themselves a 12 week window to plan and train for it. When you give yourself a bigger window to succeed you can control a lot of the factors that contribute to injury, such as building your load gradually and improving your strength over time.
Further to this, having a plan ensures that you have consistency not only in your week, but in your schedule, which improves your compliance to doing what you need to do to achieve it AND with room to move when you decide not to get out of bed on one of those cold crispy winter mornings!
So besides understanding your why, what is one other thing you can do to ensure you achieve success in your running journey this lockdown? Have someone help you!
At Stride we see ourselves not only as health professionals, but more importantly coaches. If you come to us (OR reach out and speak to us- you can do so here) with a desire to start running OR with an injury as a result of starting running, we’re going to help you get to the bottom of your why, we’re going to set your plan and more importantly, we’re going to be there every step of the way to help you achieve what you want to achieve.
If you’re reading this wondering how this applies to you, I want you to do this for me:
Write down the reason why you want/wanted to start running?
Write down your goal i.e. half marathon in under 2 hours, 5k in under 30 mins OR lose 5kg etc.
Write down the steps you’re going to take to get there – are you going to invest in a coach to provide more certainty and confidence in reaching this above goal?
If you’ve read this far, I have obviously resonated with you, so now it’s your turn.
Find your why and invest in a plan!
Fortunately despite things going a little pear shaped with lockdowns, myself and our team of professionals at Stride can help you-even from the comfort of your own home.
Join the many others that we are helping during this current lockdown have more certainty and confidence achieving their goals whilst also mitigating injury along the way!
