We give you four top tips to help you become a feeling based runner and to ensure that you train smart.
Give yourself permission to run gently
Running at Chatty pace is the best way to improve, especially if you haven’t been running long. We talked about why hard work doesn’t work in our last video so give yourself permission to run gently knowing that it is the best way to become a better runner. If you are an experienced performance runner then running gently is fundamental to aiding your recovery after faster sessions. In order to train in a smart way you will need to appreciate the importance of recovery. It is during your recovery that the adaptations happen in your body to make you fitter.
Run to please yourself and not your watch
We have all done this as it is so tempting to let your watch drive your pace. You push on because you want to beat your time for a previous run over a particular route. However, by racing the watch you end up working much harder than you need to and will take longer to recover before your next run. If you race your watch each time you go out running you will never give your body enough recovery time and you end up running with fatigue. Your training will actually make you slower if you carry on.
H ow to make this easier
Try leaving the GPS behind and just use the time on your watch. This way you will not be tempted to race yourself. Listen to your body instead and run according to how you feel. If you are tired slow the pace and above all keep it Chatty.
Be transparent when posting runs on social media. Label them as gentle Chatty runs or recovery runs. Let people know that pace is not important on these training runs.
Run for vitality
What do we mean by this? Running should give you more energy if you are training smart. If you run Chatty your body will make more mitochondria, which are the energy factories in your cells. These mitochondria will give you more energy and the more you have, the fitter and faster you will become. As we mentioned in our video on hard work, running hard all the time will actually destroy the mitochondria so it won’t make you fitter.
Run by effort and not pace
Your body is never the same on two different days. When you feel fresh you will be able to run at a faster Chatty pace with little effort. However if you are tired, after a race or a hard day at work, then you may struggle to run at the same Chatty pace. It will be much harder to do so and will involve pushing yourself. So don’t worry about your pace on days like these. Slow down, stay Chatty and allow your body to recover. Make sure you enjoy each run without pushing on.
Run for you and no one else
To become a feeling based runner you will need to run for you and ignore outside pressures, like the watch, other people’s expectations and the hard work ethic. This is the key to enjoying your running and to longterm improvement.
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