Running. Do you love it? Do you hate it? I posed this question on Facebook the other day and I was so surprised by the positive response. In all my years as a trainer and a runner, I would estimate 75% of women tell me they HATE running. Then I ask on Facebook, “Running. Love it or hate it?” and 75% of you say you LOVE (ok, some said LIKE) it. Maybe that is why I love you.
That’s not to say I love running everyday. We have our ups and downs. Some days running is my best friend and life partner. Other days not so much. We’ve gone through trial separations, living in separate houses and come really, really close to divorce a few times. But, honestly, running completes me. For better or worse, richer or poorer, till death do us part.
Since I’m putting it all out there right now, I’ll tell you a little about how running and I got together. We met back when I was 19 or so and desperate to lose weight (like crying in front of my mirror considering starvation and laxative diets desperate.) I didn’t know the first thing about running – except that it burned a lot of calories. I was about 40 pounds overweight and hated my body. I had never exercised a day in my life. For some crazy reason, I decided running and I should become friends.
You could say running saved me from myself.
I taught myself to become a runner, even though I hated EVERY FLIPPIN’ MOMENT of it. (Expert advice: DO NOT be a self trained runner!) I made every possible running mistake you could make. I ran too far, too fast with too few calories in my body. I was so desperate to lose weight through running that I made it unnecessarily grueling. Like vomit/cry/I-might-die grueling. My philosophy was that in order to lose weight with running, I had to run a little further everyday, a little faster everyday, on fewer calories everyday. At one point I ran 42 days in a row. This is the best formula ever for physical and mental overtraining, physical and mental exhaustion, and depression. Which goes really nicely with poor body image. Just one big pity party.
After about a year of this awesome training protocol, I was lucky enough to start running periodically with my college roommates and then, later, with co-workers who were much smarter than me. I like to think I’m smart, well informed and highly educated. But I’ll admit, I was a crazy FOOL when it came to running.
Over the next few years as I ran into my twenties, my relationship with running became my mood stabilizer, my anti-anxiety medication, my confidence and my well being. To this day it remains all that and more.
In my mid twenties, some of my amazing co-workers (who had become really close friend) got me into distance running (after much kicking, screaming and “NO WAY IN HELL” on my part.) We ran 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons and marathons together. And here is where my life changed.
I realized I was a runner.
I was not a fat girl trying to jog.
I was a RUNNER.
Side note: my dad once said to me, “Do you run? Or do you do more of a jog?” While I was initially tempted to challenge him to a few laps at the track, I politely told him the truth, “If you jog, you run. And if you do not do either you NEVER, EVER have the right to call a runner a ‘jogger’.”
Being a runner has nothing to do with how fast you go or whether you’re “jogging” or “running”. It’s about where your head goes while you’re pounding the pavement. It’s about the mental discipline it takes to push yourself in the wind and the rain and the heat when you’re tired and/or cranky and/or overwhelmed with life. It’s about being strong physically, emotionally and mentally.
Much of running has nothing to do with physical strength or endurance. Most of it has everything to do with the thoughts in your head. I can tell you this from my experience running a marathon when the thoughts in my head said, “Hmmm, I don’t really feel like running today” at mile 2 of 26.2 miles. Not a fun day.
But, for better or worse, running has been with me through every moment of life’s ups and downs. It has allowed me to process every decision I’ve made as an adult. At the same time, it has given me a really strong heart, a really strong body and a really strong will to always push myself. Push when the going gets tough. Push when you’ve met a goal and it’s time to raise the bar higher. Push when you are pissed off and everything seems unfair. Push when you are strong and powerful and cannot be stopped.
Now I live my life the way I run, “Push when the going gets tough. Push when you’ve met a goal and it’s time to raise the bar higher. Push when you are pissed off and everything seems unfair. Push when you are strong and powerful and cannot be stopped.”
I have clients tell me all the time they HATE running. I get it. Totally. There are a lot of things about running that are not so glamorous:
“Boobs. Flapping. Everywhere.”
“It makes me pee my pants a little”.”
“I feel like I can never catch my breath.”
“My legs just burn like crazy.”
“Everything in my body says STOP with every step.”
“I can feel my belly and bootie jiggling everywhere.”
“It’s just too hard.”
“My knees hurt.”
“It gives me a side ache.”
“I have to stop every 2 minutes and walk so I don’t feel like dying.”
I’ve heard all of this and said most of them myself a time or two (or three.) But for all the hate, there remains a lot of love:
Crossing a finish line is like no other feeling in this world. I cry every time.
Running helped me lose 40 pounds and change my body forever, thereby changing my life.
When I run I can have really sassy conversations in my head that I would never have the courage to have in real life.
Running makes me feel strong and powerful.
Running is my therapy. Without it, I’d need a lot of Prozac and Xanax.
Running makes me happier, more confident, more calm. (My husband appreciates this.)
Running helps me focus my thoughts so I can focus on others all day long.
Running will always be my whore – cheap & easy. That’s the best kind of exercise.
Yeah, that’s a good place to end the list of love. With something shocking and dirty. So, either I just lost a bunch of readers forever or you love me a little bit more (it’s ok, you don’t have to admit it.)
You probably have a relationship with running, too. It may be that you’ve never tried it, but you think it just seems too grueling. You’re right. It may be that you run on the first sunny spring day every year and remember that you’re not cut out for it. You’re right. It may be that you do it every now and then and it’s a great compliment to your exercise regimen. You’re right. It may be that you run all the time and it’s pretty much your religion. You’re right.
Running may or may not be the be all, end all of exercise for you. That is totally fine. But if it hold a place in your heart, because you currently are a runner or you’ve secretly always wanted to become a runner, you should acknowledge and embrace that piece of you. For those of you who have a secret, deep, burning desire to become a runner, I have some advice for you. I will save it for tomorrow’s post. I want you to learn from all of my mistakes – do not be a starving, crazy runner like I was. You deserve more than that. Getting started running can be really awesome if you do it right. In fact, it can be an amazing love affair.
If you have any questions on getting started with a running program, post them below and I’ll be sure to answer them in my post tomorrow.
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LaDonna on October 3, 2011 at 4:08 pm.
Hi, thanks for the post on running! I had started running with my husband following a couch to 10K program on his Iphone. He had a recurring shin splint problem and had to seek help, and I have what I believe to be a glute muscle problem that aches (hmmm.. could be hamstring related, but I really think it may be glute that just radiates into the ham and at times the groin). However, I do not want to give up! Finances are really tight now so I cannot get to the PT yet and I have to be honest and say that I don’t know how I feel abt. walking in and saying I need my butt massaged:) I am hoping to become victorious in my running as well. It is the one of the only exercise that requires slappin on some sneakers and walking out your door or hoppin on the dreadmill!
Have a blessed day!
Sara Dean on October 3, 2011 at 4:44 pm.
LaDonna, sounds like you’re having some problems with you piriformis (deep butt muscle) and/or adductor (inner thigh). Stetching will do wonders for this. Google “pigeon stretch”, that’s a really good one for both of those muscles. Also, do you have a tennis ball or baseball? Sitting on that and digging it into your rear will be just the massage you need. The more you can press the muscle into the ball the better. I would do these things a coulpe times a day for a couple weeks. Another great investment would be a foam roller – there’s a bunch of stretches/massage you can do with that too!
Janet on October 3, 2011 at 6:02 pm.
Thank you
shannon on October 4, 2011 at 6:06 pm.
I too lost about 40 lbs running. I did it in conjunction with Weight Watchers at a ripe age of 37 and had never run a block in my life (OK, maybe once to catch a bus). I decided to go with a friend on walk/jogs and I ended up just running by myself (she moved and I enjoyed the time alone anyway). This was pre-baby time. During my pregnancy, I gained about 25 lbs (he was 6 weeks early). I have really never lost that baby weight (he’s now 4) except in May of this year when I did Sara’s RFL program and lost 11 of it. During that time, I did some running again but I wasn’t real sure how I felt getting back to it (still don’t). My knees hurt more than they did. My mind wasn’t where it was in being able to keep focused and going. I was a self-taught “runner” so perhaps getting some training would do me some good now? What do you think, Sara?
Sara Dean on October 4, 2011 at 6:55 pm.
Shannon, couple thoughts on running post baby. Shoes? Do you have really good ones, specifically chosen for YOUR feet? Strength? Have you tried running since getting your strength back in RFL? Sometimes the legs need some strengthening before the knees can run happy. Have you been consistent? The feeling of being able to let go of your head and just run takes awhile. The first few weeks of running can definitely be more “omg, I think I might die” for much of the run. Lastly, have you tried setting walk breaks and then building up your run stretches over time? That may help your endurance which would help you be able to relax a bit more and let your mind wander. Oh – and gait analysis. If the knee thing is persistant, I would recommend having a PT do this with you, to see if there’s a gait issue (can be an issue with self trained runners). hope that helps!