What I Wish I Had Known
In the most recent episode of the Running Rogue podcast, host Chris McClung talks about eight things he wishes he could tell his younger running self. His inspiration was Lauren Fleshman’s article “Dear Younger Me,” which was written in 2017 for MileSplit and recently reprinted. Lauren writes so beautifully. Among the many gems in her article: “I need you to know, I PROMISE you, that the ultimate star you are chasing is further ahead than any shiny thing you see now. The way you get there is to protect your health and protect your love of the sport above all, even as you reach for the shiny goals right in front of you. You simply do not know and cannot predict your personal path, but you’ll get there. It will look different and brighter and richer and more multi-faceted the closer you get.” Well, my writing skills aren’t quite up to a Lauren Fleshman-type article, but here are three things I wish I could tell my younger self. 1. Run more in high school. I was interested in running in high school, but it never would have occurred to me to join a team. I was heavily into music and (even if I had thought of it) I would have said I didn’t have time to do both. I also would have assumed I wasn’t a good enough runner. Well, both points are valid, but I probably could have made time for both, at least for a couple years. And even though I wouldn’t have been a star, I’m pretty sure they would have taken me on the cross country team. The fact that I missed out on a chance to have a coach and run on a team makes me sad. 2. Start strength training earlier. I’m sure a lot of runners feel this way. As a matter of fact, it was on Chris McClung’s list and he has an interesting take on it. He feels that if he had embedded strength into his running training early on, he might enjoy it more now. He says that he knows he needs to lift weights, but it’s something he now tacks on begrudgingly. Well said, Chris! I’m not sure if doing it earlier would make me enjoy it more, but I do know that the earlier you start, the better. Muscle fiber loss usually starts around age 30, but can begin as early as 25. And muscle fibers lost from aging are primarily fast-twitch fibers. ACK! We don’t want that! Lift weights, younger self… and, well, everyone. 3. Learn to do speedwork properly. In the 1980s and 90s, there just wasn’t the wealth of information that we have today. In the library in the town where I grew up, there was ONE book geared towards women’s running, Marathon Mom. And I read it! I have no idea who the author was- I tried to look it up, but it’s probably long out of print. The point is, I somehow knew that in order to get faster, one did something called “speedwork” and this is how I did it: Once a week, I went to the track and ran 400s. I have no idea how I came up with the original pace, but I would run one 400 at a “fast” pace and then a slow one to recover. Each week I would increase the reps until I got to twelve, then I would start back down at a faster pace with lower reps, and build up from there… etc. That was it! It wasn’t terrible, but there was quite a bit lacking there. I definitely had never heard of a “tempo run” or “strides.” But the best part is how I trained for my sub-4 hour marathon: I ran every single run (other than my weekly track workouts) at a 9:00 mile pace. Every week I increased my long run until I could run 20 miles at that pace. Then on marathon day, I ran that pace for 26.2 miles. Voila! I achieved my goal (easily) but I look back at a lost opportunity for a much faster time. Who knew? I certainly didn’t. I have one more thing to say to my younger self: In spite of all the foolish choices (let’s not even get into running a marathon in a cotton t-shirt) you did pretty well with the limited knowledge you had. Now, time to look forward! I wonder what my 85-year-old self will want to tell my 55-year-old self? How about you? What would you tell your younger running self?