Running alone v running with Friend

The_Kew_Tour

OK I am trying get back into running while the evenings are bright and need to gain some fitness.

Been doing 6k runs with my mate(hoping to progress 1k every few weeks). When I do I normally finished the distance even though its a bit of struggle at present.

Now the problem is when I run by myself. I will do 6k, but I normally stop after 3-4k. I get it into my head that I am more wrecked then I am.

I know its mental thing I suppose, but can anybody give me bit of advice to run better when I am on my own. I normally have Ipod on when by myself.

Kinda bugging me and little annoying.

Thanks.

Oryx

To be honest, noone can give you the motivation to push through the hard bits, you have to do it yourself. Use whatever works in your head to give you the mental strength to tough it out.

Imagine someone running with you that you have to beat. Or time each run you do and aim to complete it faster every time.

You could run to a target. The next crossroads, song on your ipod, whatever. But once you get there, move the target. And don't stop.

The_Kew_Tour

Oryx wrote: »

To be honest, noone can give you the motivation to push through the hard bits, you have to do it yourself. Use whatever works in your head to give you the mental strength to tough it out.

Imagine someone running with you that you have to beat. Or time each run you do and aim to complete it faster every time.

You could run to a target. The next crossroads, song on your ipod, whatever. But once you get there, move the target. And don't stop.

Cheers.

Ya your right its up to me I guess. Some good advice. Will keep it in mind.

Clearlier

Try running for time rather than distance. Don't worry about your pace. You'll be surprised at how quickly you improve.

The_Kew_Tour

Clearlier wrote: »

Try running for time rather than distance. Don't worry about your pace. You'll be surprised at how quickly you improve.

So your saying run for 20/30 minutes and work from there?

sounds good and might be what I need.

thecatspjs

I find running to beat my previous times is enough motivation. No ipod or running buddy. Just a stopwatch.

Jet Black

What I did.
Try listening to podcasts instead for a while see how you get on with them.
Don't think about running, listening to the podcasts helped with that.
Never stop, even when you want to, just reduce your pace instead the slowly speed back up.

papu

Podcasts are great as are training apps , I've one for my phone that will tell me every 1k or 1/2K how long it took , then I try and beat that for the next segment , you can get apps that give you encouragement as you run as well though I haven't tried those

rubadub

I used to listen to the same playlist cycling to work each morning, this was out of laziness and the phone being hassle to be changing.

This lead to an unintentionally planned effect of me knowing if I was going slow or not by knowing where I was on my trip in relation to my songs. e.g. I would be on track 4 and gone under a bridge so know I was going well.

So if you are going the same route and start the playlist at the same time each run then you can track your progress without having to even look at a clock.

It could spur you on hearing a song coming near its end and you not being where you should be.

If you pick short songs and are going a long distance your long term goal can be knocking songs off the playlist.

Clearlier

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

So your saying run for 20/30 minutes and work from there?

sounds good and might be what I need.

Yes, your aim is to increase the amount of time that you can run for.

The best way to improve your running is by running more not running faster. There's room for both but run fast rarely, run slowly often.

I personally recommend avoiding any kind of music. There's a Zen type state that you'll get into after a while which is highly enjoyable and music just gets in the way.

Last point - it takes 10 - 15 minutes for your system to warm up before you can possibly feel ok. The Kenyans start their day with a slow jog (and I mean slow) and they start all of their runs slowly.