I first wrote this post several months ago, but I’ve held off on publishing it. This is a recipe blog, right? But eating and running are tightly tied. I choose what I eat to help me feel good and run stronger. I also shun fad diets and food crazes because I don’t need to lose weight, and because I eat to maintain my overall health, which is a long term goal. But I’ll save that for a different post.
My favorite running quote is “You don’t quit running because you get old, you get old because you quit running.” And I don’t like feeling old.
So let me start with a brief rundown of my qualifications to give out running advice. I’ve been running for 35 years, and I’ve run 4 marathons with a PR of 3:25, although that was over 20 years ago. I’ve run more half marathons than I can count. I’ve run through 4 pregnancies, and started running again 2-3 weeks after each delivery. OK, actually I’ve run for the first 34 weeks of 4 pregnancies before switching to a stair climber or just walking. My four sons have all run track and cross country at school. My husband is an avid cyclist and runner too. I started running as a junior in high school during a teachers strike in the winter in Minnesota. I was fortunate to grow up in the shadow of Grandma’s Marathon so I was used to seeing my city over flowing with marathon runners every summer. I was inspired to run by my mother who had run about 4 marathons herself by that time. When I decided to give running a try, I could only run about a mile. If I could only run 1 mile at age 17, I worried, what would I be able to do when I got to be an old 30 something? Now at age 52, I treat every run as a gift and hope that I still have decades more running ahead of me.
My first advice to running for the long term is to run consistently week after week, year after year. It’s a lot harder to get into running shape than it is to maintain that running fitness. That first step out the door after a long break is a real mental challenge, and the rest of the run might be too. You may be sore for several days afterward. But the second run is easier, and the third even easier. Muscles start to atrophy after about 2 days, so running less than every other day lets your muscles deteriorate between efforts. After more days off, count on twice as many days of running as days off to get back to where you were before. I have a strange habit of “running ahead” to build up my fitness before a vacation so that running less during vacation won’t set me back as far. But you can’t plan ahead for a winter cold or flu.
One of the best comments I’ve heard about a running habit came from an NPR podcast. The host was explaining that he ran every morning because that’s just what he does. If he had to think about it, he might choose to sleep in. But because running is what he does, he just does it. The story went on about something else entirely, but the point was that a consistent habit is easier to maintain than an occasional activity. So set a time, and just run, no backing out, no excuses. I run because I run.
I have always run at least 3 days a week, which was all I could fit in when I had babies in the house. But I prefer to run 5 days a week. I’ve been adding up weekly mileage for as long as I can remember, ever since I ran my first marathon about 26 years ago. Running just 3 days a week makes it difficult to progress, and the longest run I could manage was about 8-9 miles. Upping it to 4 days a week allows me to run a half-marathon if I choose. But 5 days a week just feels great. I run faster, and with less effort. And I feel really good about myself. I’ve always felt best when running about 30 miles a week.
Do you need more evidence of the benefits of running? I’ve never been on a diet, and yet I weigh the same amount now as I did when I graduated from high school. I am careful about what I eat and have aimed for a low fat, low-ish salt diet for my entire adult life. I avoid fast food. I feel just as strong and energetic now as I did 30 years ago. I’m running about 30 seconds per mile slower, on average, then I did in my 20’s, but I feel just the same running now as I always have.
My mom had in inspirational poster on the wall when I was growing up, long before “memes” became a thing, and long before the internet was invented. The poster said “The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running”. She ran a half-marathon at age 77. Never underestimate the power of a good quote.
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