Teach Yourself How to Run: Part Two

Last Sunday I decided to go for a run in the early evening. The heavens opened just as I began jogging off... and it was sensory bliss. The rain drops were huge and warm to the touch, and as they streaked past they landed on the hot tarmac beneath my feet and radiated upwards the aroma of hot bitumen. The clouds were massively contrasted against one another - but I didn't hang around long enough to see if a rainbow would make a break for the sky.

If you know anything about addictions - then you may know a little bit about triggers too. These small instances (triggers) are what makes certain addictions so powerful. You change your routine, and you reduce the chance that a trigger may coax you back to doing whatever it is that you are trying to give up. Running for me is an addiction which has lasted many years and I am driven back time and time again by memories like last Sundays. Memories also like last winter when I was running down a normally busy lane in the snow, the sky pitch black and because of the snow - it was devoid of vehicle traffic. I felt as though I was running through a Tron landscape. Glowing lanes and trees lighting the path infront of me. That memory will stay with me for ever and help keep my passion to run alive.

For you to run, enjoy the experience and to seek it out for many years to come - you have to begin to build these same kinds of associations, just as you do for all the other things that you love to do in life. Think of your favourite pass-time, specifically one which you may spend on your own (or just away from everyday life events). Churn it over in your mind and understand what it is about that activity that has a hold on you and your life. If you suddenly got an urge to fry up some pancakes because you love the smell of lemon... and it reminds you of when you were a kid on Shrove-Tuesday... then you are hitting the sweet spot.

In order for you to keep the running activity desireable... your task is to create a posi-trigger, but not just a passing fancy... a real, solid, life hook which gives you the drive. This will take time and believe me when you begin to struggle mentally, they negative aspects of running will rampage through your head and try to take hold well before the positive ones. I refer you to Thomas Jefferson and "anything worth having is worth the hard work".

Hopefully by now you have gotten out for a run since my last post - reflecting upon what it is to challenge your body and mind in these ways. Attempt not to over do it for starters, and try to wash past bad experiences out of your system as you run. Next time I'll talk about the REAL power of suggestion and how this can affect not only your performance - but how you recover mentally.

Engine[er]