Start at the Very Beginning

…even if you’ve been running for years

This might be the only running newsletter to use a bonsai photo, but this plant is exactly like our relationships to running, to our bodies, and to our minds. This shows the work of years, that might be ugly to some people and beautiful to others. But those perspectives don’t matter: the important thing is that that work beautiful and fulfilling to you.

Last week, we talked form, but...what if you're just thinking about starting to run, or what if you're in a slump? This week, let's talk about what to do when you're just starting out.

I started running when I was eight, which means I had a distinct advantage: I had no where to go but up. My first run was a one mile Halloween Fun Run, and I’ve never forgotten it. I walked a little, but I liked it! There was wind, there was exhilaration (we ran along the top of a levee, which seemed very high for an eight year old), there was cheering, and there was an end. I really liked crossing the finish line and knowing I’d accomplished something. In many ways, that same feeling has stuck with me ever since. I like the feeling of having accomplished something important, something desirable, when I’ve finished a run, even though it’s just for me. 

That being said, I’m not immune to slumps. In the course of a three decade career, slumps are inevitable. At three distinct points, I’ve had major mental fallouts with running. All three were not because of physical injuries; they were mental ones. I just...fell out of love with running. Every time, coming back was hard; I knew I still sort of loved parts of running, but I was burnt out. I tried to come back; I built up. To do that, I followed the advice I give everyone who asks me how to start running or how to come back to it:

1. The first day, run a quarter of a mile.

2. The second day, run it again.

3. The third day, run a little farther — a LITTLE. Maybe like a few hundred feet even.

4. The fourth day, run your quarter mile again.

5. The fifth day, give it a rest.

6. The sixth day, start the whole thing over again, but running that LITTLE farther as your new baseline.

This schedule does a couple of things. First, it creates an attainable goal, a quarter of a mile. Second, that attainable goal is also very easy to measure. You can easily see quarters on google maps or in running apps, and most people have ready access to a not-gross-or-terribly-hilly quarter mile stretch. Third and maybe most important from a mental stance, the schedule itself is uneven across the weeks; it’s only six days long. This means that even without trying, you won’t start replicating your weekly run, which helps you not get bored or fall into a rut. 

Don’t replicate your weekly run, and you won’t get bored or fall into a rut. 

Change It Up

Another scenario in which you might find yourself starting out again is when, like I have been, you’re not out of shape (yet), but you're just moderately burnt out and uninspired? In a sitatuion like this, running a quarter of a mile isn’t that appealing. It’s simply too short.

When I find myself in that so-so state,, the first thing I do is change my route. The best part about this approach is that it can work when you’re just moderately bored as well as when you’re having a major crisis. In fact, changing my route was the major ingredient to coming back to running  in all three of my falling-out-of-love times. It turns out that I was just super bored. And boredom is insidious; it saps our energy but doesn't always appear that obvious, especially when we're busy with life or other challenges. So if you need a restart with running, change your training regime or your route. Just try it and see how you feel. You might even find yourself more fatigued than you thought you would be, simply because your brain hasn't been engaged.

Change your route, because boredom is insidious.

Being Stoic; Always Learning

From all these experiences, I’ve come to realize that the most important component to starting out with or coming back to running is to keep learning. Everyday that you sincerely try to run and your mind defeats you is another day that you build from. Failures are not failures; they're steps to success.

In stoicism, we know that we cannot control everything, and all we can control is our reaction to setbacks. You don't have to like the setbacks you encounter, but what you can do is choose how to deal with them. What information do they give you about yourself? What can you do with that information? Given these setbacks, whatever they are, what does success look like? Think about all these things as you're starting out or coming back to running. As I wrote the other week: goals shift; goals SHOULD shift. That’s the nature of having a lifelong relationship. 

All we can control is our reactions to setbacks.

See you next week on the morning updates. If you haven’t signed up for those, please do! You can see them on IG and YouTube. Have great weekends, and for today, remember: go run!