2.\u00a0Races<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nIn the beginning of your running journey, I encourage you to sign up for a race. \u00a0It doesn’t matter how far away that race is and you should pick a distance that seems attainable for you. \u00a0Then you can explore training guides and methods that are comfortable for you. \u00a0I would love to say: This is the one and only plan that will make it possible to be a super awesome runner overnight. \u00a0But the truth is, it just doesn’t happen that way. \u00a0Running takes a lot of training of the mind and body. \u00a0It won’t happen overnight but it will happen. \u00a0And the success of crossing a finish line is something everyone should enjoy. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of racing:<\/p>\n
Pros – In a race, there is every type of runner. \u00a0Some people are super fast and some people seem to walk the whole time. \u00a0Most large races will organize you into pace ‘corrals’ so that your running with other people that run your pace. \u00a0This usually ends up being maybe 50% true. \u00a0Running in a race is like being on a huge team! \u00a0While you’re obviously running solo, you’re all doing the same thing at that same time. \u00a0It’s a feeling of human camaraderie. \u00a0 Most races donate profits to charity or are for a good cause. \u00a0You also end up with a t-shirt and usually quite a bit of free snacks and drinks.<\/p>\n
Cons – It’s a lot of people in one place. \u00a0Some runners I know hate racing because there’s so many people in the way. \u00a0Depending on the course, sometimes other racers can slow you down. I’ve been on courses that were not wide enough for the amount of runners and when anyone starts to walk, it forces everyone to walk and bottleneck. The logistics can be annoying. \u00a0When you sign up for a race, there’s usually a time to pick up your race packet the day before, or you have to go early before the race and stand in line for your number. \u00a0Depending on the race location, parking can also lead to anxiety on a race day. Logistics are the worst part of the race.<\/p>\n
My Experience<\/strong><\/p>\nI love racing but in a race, I’m not usually racing anyone but myself. \u00a0Inexperienced racers tend to run the beginning of a race way too fast and end up walking at the end. \u00a0I have learned to pace myself throughout the race and run strong the whole time. \u00a0I’ve now completed 10 races ranging from a 3K to half marathons. \u00a0The course, environment and experience is different every time but I love the feeling of everyone running together! \u00a0My favorite moments are right before you start and everyone is nervous but excited. \u00a0You can feel it in the air. Races are really fun experiences and crossing a finish line is so exhilarating! Each race I fall in love with running a little bit more. \u00a0You’ll see someone you’d never expect to see running a race, cross the finish line. \u00a0You’ll see people dedicated their run to someone who has passed away. \u00a0You’ll see runners helping each other when it gets too hard. \u00a0It’s just a cool feeling and one of the times I feel connected to strangers on the most basic level.<\/p>\n
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3. \u00a0You’ll Never love it all the time<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nRunning is 90% mental and 10% physical and sometimes, overcoming the mental is the hardest part. \u00a0It’s true that sometimes, leaving the house is the hardest part of a run. \u00a0Every runner on the planet has slept passed their alarm and missed a run. \u00a0Every runner takes days off and ‘doesn’t really feel like it’ today. \u00a0Sometimes you leave the house, get half way done and decide that’s enough for today. \u00a0BUT……it’s those runs that are amazing that keep you going. \u00a0Sometimes you don’t want to leave the house and then have a great run to start your day. \u00a0You’ll always feel better after a run! It’s the runs where you learn something about yourself, let anxiety and stress go, push yourself harder than you thought you could or complete a distance that used to seem impossible that make running all worth it. \u00a0If you don’t love it this time, there’s always a next time.<\/p>\n
I love running*\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n*usually<\/p>\n
My Nike app says I’ve logged 102 runs. \u00a0Of those runs, I think I’ve quit early 5 times or less. Sometimes you just have to listen to your body and not push it passed its limit but it takes a while to understand your body’s limits. \u00a0I know the difference between physically tired and mentally tired now and always try to hold myself accountable. \u00a0I’ve decided to simply not go on a run probably about the same amount of times. \u00a0But I’ve also had the best runs. \u00a0Sometimes I think I could solve world hunger if I just ran long enough. \u00a0Running allows me to destress and feel my body like a machine. \u00a0It makes me feel strong and confident about my day. \u00a0I’m proud of myself every time I finish a run even if it’s the exact course I ran two days before. \u00a0I don’t know what it would be like to be a super hero, but running makes me feel like I just might be.<\/p>\n
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This morning I logged another 5 miles before the sun came up. \u00a0In the beginning of my running journey, it took me a while to fall in love with it. \u00a0There are still somedays that I have to convince myself to go but I’m NEVER disappointed that I went. \u00a0It only took me a few … <\/p>\n
Continue reading “How To Be A Runner #4”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fitness"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4PFDd-je","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogapantsdiary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogapantsdiary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogapantsdiary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogapantsdiary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogapantsdiary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1192"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/yogapantsdiary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1196,"href":"https:\/\/yogapantsdiary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192\/revisions\/1196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogapantsdiary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogapantsdiary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogapantsdiary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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