As with any sport there are always certain rules you just don’t break. If you do, you’re asking for trouble. For example, in baseball you do not tell the umpire he made a bad call while up at bat. The next pitch that’s close to the strike zone probably won’t be called in your favor. Running is no exception when it comes to sports that have rules or laws that you simply should not break.
Below are the Ten Commandments of Running that have been compiled through the mistakes made by other runners. Follow these closely and your training, as well as races, should go much more smoothly.
1. Thou shall not drink alcohol – consuming alcohol in the leading days up to a long run or a race is typically a recipe for fatigue and discomfort during the run. You booze, you lose.
2. Thou shall not lack sleep- resting up adequately is essential for race preparation and for race recovery. Just like the doctor will tell you to rest when you’re sick, you should do the same when you have a big run coming up or just had one.
3. Thou shall not skip breakfast – Not eating breakfast before a run or a race is like a plane taking off for a flight without refueling. There’s only so far you can go with a half empty tank.
4. Thou shall not wear cotton – Cotton retains moisture, leading to toes with more blisters. It also means that your shirt will be much heavier as you sweat and your cotton shirt saturates. Go with synthetic, wicking material that will pull moisture away from the body and keep you dry and light.
5. Thou shall not buy shoes from anywhere ending in “barn”, “mart”, or “less” - Your feet are the most important thing in running. Don’t make them suffer through poorly supported arches, collapsing insteps, stiff soles, and the like. Go to quality running stores such as Road Runners and have your stride analyzed to help you choose the right type of shoe.
6. Thou shall not run without water – Going on a long run without any hydration is dangerous. Forgetting to properly hydrate in the 24-48 hours leading up to a long run or a race is equally careless. If you’ve ever watched a TV show about survival techniques you’ll always hear them say that you can live longer without food than you can without water. The same applies to running. Food is important, but water is essential.
7. Thou shall not train at the same pace every time – In order to improve your speed and endurance you’ll need to shock your body occasionally and train it to adapt to heightened states of speed or distance. During a training week be sure to mix in one day of Fartlek runs, 30-45 sec speed training repeats, hill runs, and recovery runs. A healthy combo of training variations will help you quickly improve as a runner whether you’re looking for speed, distance, or both.
8. Thou shall not race with an ipod on – Being courteous and safe during a race is always important. It’s frustrating as a runner when you enter a race to try and break personal records, but get slowed down or even injured in a running accident caused by a racer not aware of his/her surroundings due to earplugs. Also, you should be poised to hear the chanting and cheering around you to really soak up the race day experience!
9. Thou shall learn from others – Hire a couch, read a book, watch a dvd or join a running club. It doesn’t matter which one you choose but either way you should invest in educating yourself about the sport. Learn from others and apply it to yourself to see what works. Learn, test, reiterate and improve.
10. Thou shall know thy reason to run – Running is a profound thing for some people. So much so that many runners talk about running as their religion. They find peace with themselves and with the world as they explore it by foot. Run for a reason and you’ll run for life. Find out why running is important to you, embrace it, and share it with others.
If we shared this list with others I’m sure it could easily grow to the 1,267th Commandment of Running. The above list is a good start though. Lace up your shoes and pound the pavement to determine your own commandments of running then come back and share it with us!
Happy running!
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i lift weights everyday and run 4 days a week and it works my core and improves my running.