We're Here For A Good Time, Not A Long Time.

A lot of runners rely on an app to track their running.  And indirectly related to the use of said app is the need to measure everything in distance.  Easy runs? Gotta be at least 5k, workouts? Need a nice healthy round number for that workout and combined warm-up and cool down.   If it ain’t a whole number, I don’t want none. 

Sound familiar?

A lot of us are guilty of this. Ending a run at 9.96 km will drive a runner crazy. You may have already run 31.46km but you can’t stop there, gotta get the remaining 0.54km!

Most of the time, going by distance is fine, but running by time on feet? Game changer.

Strapped for time?  A 25 min run is way more schedule friendly then a “ quick 5k”  Treadmill runs are less shitty (hear me out!) when you go by time vs whatever bullshit distance measurement treadmills have (IYKYK).

At some point, motivation will be lacking to get out for a run. You start to negotiate with yourself on how far, what time etc, etc.   

Change it up, tell yourself that you’re going out for ## minutes, or # hours.  Your body doesn’t know how far you’ve run, it knows how long you’ve been moving. And once you hit that agreed upon time limit, just stop. You probably have another 300 meters to round out the distance, but I promise you that you will be just fine. 

Newer runners can benefit from adopting the time on feet approach to running early on, tracking runs by time can help with building consistancy and confidence with the change in mindset.

There are times when running by distance makes sense and is necessary (outside of a race of course), but for those easy runs, or LSD runs, try running by time on feet.  Reframing the type of run can be a game-changer when motivation is lacking.

Workout Of The Week

1km repeats.

Simple, tough workout to build speed endurance, and mental toughness. 4-6 repeats and with 60-90 seconds jog recovery or standing rest. 

Start the first couple at about 70-75% effort and build intensity towards an 85% effort with the last one at a 90% effort

Till next time.

J P