Well, I guess the grind can stop sometimes. Personally I have Cross Country during the fall and Track during the spring and I will take two breaks from running each year. The breaks are just after each sport is over, this is actually beneficial for you to take a nice break after such a long period of running nearly everyday. After each season I will take 2-3 weeks off of running to just relax and recover from all of the strain I was putting my legs through nearly everyday. When you are running competitively it can be very hard on your body with how you train. Often times I will struggle to get up each morning. Along with that, many of my seasons I have been fighting off an injury throughout the season and this break allows my legs to recover from the pain I had been putting myself through.

As well as this break that I take after each season I will take breaks during the season as well because it is important to recover on certain days. During the school week I will run all 5 days but I will take 1 or 2 days of my weekend to not run and to try and let my legs rest. Another great thing to do while you are sore is just take a nice grandma jog as my coach would put it. FUN FACT! This is the part of running that is mine along with most peoples favorites! On these runs you just get your group of friends and you have a nice conversation on your run and just have a genuinely good time. Sometimes we screw around a little too much on these runs but you should not be pushing yourselves on this because typically they come after a hard workout or a meet you had the day before. These slow runs actually help you recover faster than just laying around if you do them correctly. The moral of this story is that running sucks balls and just have a good time every now and then :).

To answer the question I presented in the title, I am a living example of someone who is relatively fast and has an addiction to Flamin Hot Cheetos. This track season I have began trying to suppress my addiction for Flamin Hot Cheetos and I believe that I am about one month sober now. I have my mom and dad as well as my supportive family and friends to thank for allowing me to achieve this victory of one month being sober. Okay maybe it wasn’t a true addiction to Cheetos, but nutrition is a huge part of running that can help you or hurt you drastically. When you are running you are burning a large amount of energy in a short amount of time and it is important to replenish what you have lost replacing it with things that will help you grow as a runner.

Some foods to begin cutting out for a starter is all sodas, fast foods, and treats such as Little Debbie’s. Some great alternatives to these would be trail mix and fruit for a nice treat to replace all of the horrible snacks such as Little Debbie’s and chips. Trail mix is high in carbs, fiber, and a little bit of protein. Carbs are great for people who run daily because carbs fuel us during our runs. Other great things to have is water to hydrate and chocolate milk is a great thing to have after a run. My favorite snack to have is yogurt and yogurt by itself could have an entire blog post about all of the great yogurts for you and the not so great. When shopping for yogurt it’s important to get one that is high in protein, high in fat, and low in sugar to maximize the benefits that come with it. Its very important for a runner to monitor what they are putting in their body because of how strenuous it can be on the body. Making sure you are putting the right fuel inside of your body such as protein, good fats, and plenty of carbs may be very important if you are looking to perform your best.

Yeah you read that correct! In order to get into running you need to try and enjoy it sometimes. You can do this in many different ways, and people may like different aspects about running. For example: people may love putting in some earbuds for listening to music and just having a nice run, while others may enjoy the true beauty of nature while on a nice jog, or even enjoy seeing the progress that they are making each day.

Now I feel like I’m making running sound like the greatest thing in the world. When being honest there are some days I wonder why I ever decided to begin running. Often times our coach will give us workouts where I am fighting back the urge of puking while my legs are trying to give out on me at the same time. There are days I limp down the hallways of our school because I am in so much pain, but for some reason I continue to come back to it. Maybe its the fact that I love the competition of running, or maybe I love seeing the progress I am making through each year, or maybe even the joy that running gives me is enough to push through whatever pain I have.

Some days you are going to have times like the person above here is having if you decide to get into running. At the same time running is so great for you with it being a natural stress reliever and just being a great thing to keep you in shape even into your old ages. I know that running is literally a punishment for almost all sports, and if you tell people that you run voluntarily they may think you are a little crazy in the head. I feel like all of us are a little crazy though! Even through all of the pain and suffering running causes me it is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I am in great shape and running has taught me so many great life aspects such as leadership, passion, and it has instilled a GROWTH MINDSET into me allowing me persevere through whatever life throws at me.

Often times people who want to get into decent shape will decide to begin running. Running is a great way for people to burn calories and it also doesn’t require a large chunk of time. Losing weight from running just like everything else can not be done overnight. “Patience is a virtue” an unknown person once said, sometimes it is hard to notice your improvements yourself.

Another important thing about running besides your mindset is the proper equipment. The majority of injuries sustained through running is due to improper footwear, so buying the correct footwear is a must. After buying the correct footwear and equipment it is finally time to begin running for whatever motive you have. Some people may believe that you should go as hard as you can when beginning running to try and make their weight loss process shorter, or getting into shape quicker. However, people who rush into running may develop an injury or lose motivation if they try to push themselves too hard. Everyone has different circumstances of course and some may be in better shape than others and can jump into running without having to take the baby steps many others may have to do. However, for the people that need the baby steps it can be very easy to get into running.

For the first week its important to just get the hang of running. Depending on your ability you should be doing much shorter mileage for your first week. Depending on the shape you are in you should begin the first day by slow jogging anything between a mile and 3 miles. After your first day is over you can take the next day off to rest, then the next day you should do the same run and see if it was harder than the first time or easier. If it was still easy you could kick it up to 2 or 3 miles if you began by running only 1 mile. For the first week you should not run two consecutive days in a row because you are just beginning and there is no need to rush. After you are through with the first week you can run 1 or 2 4 mile days and see how they go, I would recommend running 5 days in your second week taking your days off after your more challenging runs. After the second week is over you can begin with my training schedule I will talk about in a future blog post along with some other aspects of getting in shape such as nutrition.

Hello there! Welcome to my blogs about running, soon you will be running for fun!

To go anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift. — Steve Prefontaine

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