Day #4 – Running Thoughts
Great work, Runner! You are moving along in your goal to run everyday left this year. Remember that whereas after one day on the roads you were 1/365 of the way to your goal, at the end of this week, you will be 1/52 of the way there. The greatest gains are made earliest on in your program. So, be encouraged. You are making progress.
I hope you read my post from yesterday and enjoyed the youtube clip about Dean Karnazes. He is one inspiring dude. If you didn’t get a chance to read that, be sure to go back after your run later today. You are sure to be pumped up for tomorrow.
So, let’s get down to a few running principles which will help you as you persevere through the next few days en route to finishing your first week of your streak. For me, at the outset of a long and challenging journey – or streak – the most important things I can do are first, to monitor my body. I look for weaknesses and strains, any discomforts which may blow up and derail my efforts in a few days or weeks. So, I encourage you to take a moment today to listen to your body – and to, thus, care for it. Be sure to stretch a little after your run and ice any sore muscles or tendons. Be aware of how you are feeling so that you are able to push through tomorrow. The second thing I do at the outset of a streak like this is to learn to continue. This means when you are out on the roads or trails and get a bit discouraged, have an energy low or even take a fall – to get up (either emotionally or literally) and to practice putting one foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other. This does require practice, for the repetition of continually doing the smallest action required in the the completion of the goal teaches your body and – most importantly – your mind to push on, to push through. It will be this training of the body and mind which will ultimately be tested during this running streak.
So, work on these two things today: listen and practice.
Roll on!
~Coach Reed
By the way, I just got inspired myself to include the following video of one of the greatest distance runners of all times, Haile Gebreselassie, showing us all how to put one foot in front of the other. Be inspired!
