Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Runners' Roadblocks

Five Common Roadblocks for Runners (and what to do about them)

1—Doubt

Not unusual, especially if you are a first timer to have some second thoughts about what is ahead of you.

Key: Trust Your Training (Fort Bend Fit has trained thousands of marathoners and half-marathoners.

2—Setting Rigid Goals—especially outcome goals; e.g., I have to finish in a certain time, qualify for Boston, etc. no matter what. Weather conditions and individual circumstances had a great deal to do with this.

Key: have multiple goals; an ideal goal, a “reach” goal and a goal to “survive” or finish.

3—Focus on Others

Feeling like you are in competition with others is counterproductive.

Key: Make only self-to-self comparisons and accept the present moment in terms of where you are and your progress in training.

4—Dealing With Discomfort

Pain/discomfort/etc are inevitable in any long endurance event.

Key: Accept pain/try to reframe it. Develop a mantra –see recent Runners World article on this subject.

5—Self-pressure Negatives here are obvious.

Key: enjoy yourself; smile when you think about it/expect to overcome adversity; learn progressive muscle relaxation.

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