Learning to love to run!
I started running to make friends.
Let me get more specific – I started running to make friends who had healthy goals and wanted to do something besides drink.
I had moved to Nashville, Tennessee 3 months earlier for my dream job in advertising. I was 24, single, living the high life in my downtown apartment stumbling distance to the honkey tonks of Lower Broadway. I knew only a handful of coworkers, but made friendly quickly, with an outgoing personality in a town of transient 20-somethings. The only problem was, the reputation as a “drinking city with a music problem” was true, and I knew that going out 6 days/week plus a southern diet of biscuits and tots was going to catch up – fast. It already was.
I had toyed with running before. The odd run-walk charity 5K with a friend. A loop around Confederation Park in uni. But I always cramped, always got tired, or cold, or hot. Always felt “too slow” to run with others, or got left behind in run crews, the lone straggler at the back who held the leader up if I was lucky, or simply bailed midway and went home (or hopped in a Car2Go – true story).
But here I was – new city, new me. No ice or puddles to contend with, so on a whim I signed up for the “Couch to Half Marathon” training program starting January 2013, and leading up to the Rock n Roll Music City ½ Marathon at the end of April. Even though I had never run further than 5km in my life.
I received the printable training plan and hung it on my fridge, crossing off each day with pride. I left Tootsie’s early on Friday night because my “long run” was every Saturday morning at 8am in a random suburb of Nashville, with experienced marathoners twice my age. But they didn’t care, or judge. There were people of every ability and speed and body type. My very first group run was 4 miles in the rain in January. But fortunately it was still 65 degrees, so I went, knowing they would be waiting for me. And learned that I kinda like running in the rain. I also learned about gels and Strava and the importance of proper footwear and that I had to eat before I ran, and listen to music. Also that the first 1-2KM (10ish minutes) always sucks, until you find your stride. And then I did.
I had my first visitor to Nashville in February – my uni friend Lauren who was doing her Masters in Toronto – she was also a “runner” so we toured the city on foot before the day drinking began. I had just found out I was heading back to Calgary for work the week of the Music City Half Marathon, which I was super bummed about. So Lauren and I decided to aim for the Toronto Women’s Half Marathon in May, and make a girls weekend out of it.
My first race I went into with 3 goals:
Cross the finish line;
with a smile on my face;
wanting to do it again
The night before the race, Lauren, her other friend Lauren and I bought Vitamin water and bagels and packets of peanut butter and new socks and headbands from lululemon, went to the Old Spaghetti Factory to carb load, Instagrammed our flat lays, and were in our hotel room beds by 9 for our 5am wakeup call. We finished that race in 2 hours and 27 minutes. We stopped for water and bathroom breaks and photos with firefighters and funny signs. Afterwards we went for hard-earned beers and burgers and proudly hobbled around Toronto rocking our new medals.
Since then, I have run 5 more half marathons in Austin (HOT!), Nashville (FINALLY!), Calgary, and Vancouver (SeaWheeze x 2!). And I never run them alone. Because here’s my funny little secret – I don’t actually like running for 2 hours. I don’t actually enjoy pushing myself to do physically challenging things. When I go for a solo run, it’s rarely more than an hour, and usually has frequent walk breaks. But if you have a friend running alongside you, an accountability buddy, when you can turn it into an experience, you might just surprise yourself with what you are capable of.
Emily’s 10 tips to learn to love running
Get fitted for good shoes. And no, this doesn’t mean the ones you researched online. Go to Gord’s Running Store and get him to watch you run and fit you in the right shoe. If you are losing toe nails or getting blisters or sore feet or arches, you have the wrong shoes.
Test the waters on your own. Start running solo, so that you know what you are capable of. It can be pretty intimidating to run with others if you’ve never gone that far before, so go for a 30-60 minute run, and use Strava to learn about your pace and your distance, so you can “speak the lingo” and find other runners who are a similar pace.
Find a good playlist (and invest in good headphones!). I can NOT run without music, even if it’s with people. So gear up! I love my Powerbeats because they are wireless and don’t fall out. I tend to use my runs to discover new music, but Motivation Mix and Beast Mode are always a good start on Spotify.
Start out with intervals. If you are brand-new to running or find you always cramp or just get tired, start by using your iPhone timer to jog 3 minutes, then walk for 1. Do that for about 3 runs, then try 5:1, then 7:1, then 10:1. IMPORTANT: Take the first break, even if you don’t feel like you need it yet. It’s a good way for your body to adapt. Also, if you need to walk, walk! Keep moving! And find another song. The miles still count, and you might just surprise yourself and get another wind.
Remember that the first 5-10 minutes will probably suck. It always takes 1-2KM to “find your stride”, stop bouncing, and level out your heart rate and breathing. Give yourself at least 10 minutes before you quit.
A “trot” counts as running. This isn’t a sprint, it’s a run. Don’t worry about how fast (or slow) you are going – just keep moving forward.
Play with your nutrition. If you find you always cramp or get tired, try out adding a little sodium and extra hydration before your run (I never run without coffee and peanut butter toast in my system!) Also – feel free to run with your water in your hand. You can either carry a water bottle, or I love this hand-held bottle because I can put my keys in it too.
Invest in good running tights – I swear by the lululemon Fast + Free tights because the side pocket is big enough for my phone, they don’t fall down, and the zipper pocket holds my keys. If your pants are falling down, you need different ones.
Stretch before, roll after, strengthen between – I suffered for years from runner’s knee. For me (and about 80% of the population), it was due to tight hips, weak glutes, and overactive quads that pulled my knee cap out of place. Although everyone is different, my game changers were: glute strengthening (check out Glute Lab!), stretching my hips and quads before a run (check out this video), and rolling my hip flexors and quads after a run.
Run with friends - Okay you have to be careful here, this is why it is #10. Running with other people can be very intimidating if you are just starting out, and if you don’t feel comfortable enough to say you need a walk break or a shoe tie or a bathroom break. But it can also be a lot of fun, a great distraction, and a fantastic way to challenge yourself and get faster (if you want to!) - PARTICULARLY for an event like a marathon weekend, which you can turn into a great memory! My advice – check in with the group, or person you want to run with. Know your pace (in minutes/km), and ask theirs to see if they are similar, or see if the run club has a run/walk group, and find out how far they are going that day. At the Wolfpack Run Club, we always make sure we have two leaders, so no one is ever left behind.