Back in highschool I ran track. I started out as a sprinter, until one season I got moved to run mid-distance, and I hated it.
But I also never really liked running in the first place, I just wanted to be on a team LOL
I hated running distance because it was different than what I was used to, I hadn’t trained for it, and I didn’t have a CLUE what the word *pacing* meant.
Like you don’t want me to run as fast as I can the whole time…? 🤔
With being a runner in a past life now turned bodybuilder + fitness coach, that’s given me an even deeper understanding of the phrase; “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” when it comes to our health and fitness journey:
The distance runner focuses on strategy. When to push and when to pull back. When to cruise into their stride and when to kick it into high gear. Seeing their mom on the sidelines and saying hi. Noticing the view all around them. Have a bad mile? It’s fine.They focus on the race in its entirety rather than looking at the 30 second stretch in front of them.
The sprinter focuses on speed. Moving as fast as they can from point A to point B. Blocking out all distractions, blinders on. Not letting the person in the lane next to them get out in front. Not hearing anyone in the crowd or on the sidelines, it’s all a blur. You can breathe when you’re on the finish line.
So what would happen if you put a sprinter into a 10k? Would they win? Most likely not.
I know from personal experience, when I first got thrown into running 800’s I got smoked everytime, so take it from me:
We have to have the skillset to be good at running OUR race, and our fitness journey is never going to get us to our finish line in the time it takes to run the length of a football field.
❕We have to have the distance runner’s mentality, because our fitness journey is running the race, when we don’t know what’s coming our way next ❕
The scale? It’ll fluctuate
Hitting every day perfectly? It’ll never happen
Worrying about who’s in front of us? A waste of our time
Have a strategy. Pace ourselves. Just keep moving forward. ✨
Swipe to see a little #throwbackthursday back to my brunette hair and highschool days 👉🏼