10 Ways That Running Has Changed Me

Happy Thursday! We are only one day from the weekend again and getting so close to the end of 2017! I hope this year brought you many laughs, adventures, friends, opportunities to grow, and if not- there is always next year. I wanted to share with you 10 ways that running has influenced and made me a better person, in ways that I never thought it would. I thought this was a great end-of-the-year post because many people may be looking to add something new to their routine in 2018 or wanting to add more running/fitness goals into their life!

1. Running has given me opportunities to explore places I never thought I would visit.

2. Running has given me so much CONFIDENCE in every single facet of my life. 

3. Running has provided me with goals for each year and a reason to work-out (besides "wanting to be fit/in-shape")

4. Running has provided me with challenges and also the opportunity to overcome those challenges.

5. Running has given me patience. Getting better/coming back from injuries is TOUGH and it definitely is a work-in-progress.

6. Running has given me an outlet to laugh, smile, cry, overcome my anger, solve problems (or come to realization that they cannot be solved so easily), celebrate, and mourn.

7. Running has taught me so much about myself, things that I'm not sure I would have ever known without it. 

8. Running has given me the opportunity to join support groups and fight for causes that I am beyond passionate about. 

9. Running has given me an excuse to enjoy a donut (or two) after accomplishing something. 

10. Running has made me realize that I'm enough of myself and that I should never take it for granted.

What has running taught you?

What are your 2018 goals? Fitness or non-fitness related?

How have you improved from a hobby you enjoy doing?

Easing into a new training plan

Are you thinking about beginning a new training plan to crush your next race? Did you think about what you should do to ease into that new training plan or are you just planning to 'jump' right into it?

Jumping into training plans is one of the number one causes for injuries! So many runners take a look at new race training plan and think 'that seems doable' and just forget about those weeks leading up to it. It's never a good idea to jump into a 20 mile week 1 training plan, if you've only built up to 10 mile weeks. 

I always like to add in 2-to-3 weeks of build-up, before beginning a new training plan. The build-up weeks don't need to be anything too crazy and it doesn't even have to include any speed workouts or goal-paced runs because you are just working on increasing mileage (it's never a good idea to introduce more than one or two 'new' things each week of training cycle). I.E. --> if you introduce 3 new miles that week and a goal-paced workout, then there's no room for also adding in a speed workout. It's all about BALANCE. 

I love to make my own calendars or keep track of my training runs on an excel doc! It helps me notice if I'm increasing my mileage too much each week or if I miss a few days from nagging injuries or being sick, I know that I will need to ease into training that next week (not just right back in full-bore). If you're able to reflect on your training each week, it will also help your MENTAL prep! I love to look back on my past training runs and remember those runs that I totally ROCKED- helps build up my confidence on my race day plan (or re-assess if things didn't go so well during training). 

PS HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Are you celebrating tonight, eating candy, or turning your lights off and pretending like no one is home? ->I will be eating some candy, watching my favorite Halloween movie Hocus Pocus, and not dressing up #adulting 

What techniques do you use to ease back into a training plan?

Do you use a calendar or journal for writing down some notes on each run/ training day?