Fatty's Three Keys to Running

Now when I run I don't wear an iPod or MP3 player or any such stuff.  I know it is good for a lot of people to make running more bearable then the painful experience that it already is.  I use the time to think about random things and yell at myself for wanting to stop or slow down before the end.  Think of it like a normal person's shower time especially since by the end of the run I am equally wet.

So during my running I have come up with the three key facets to running.  Mind you nothing like form, pace, breathing, etc.  Just the simple stuff that is required to simply go outside and put one foot in front of the other for an extended period of time.  So without further ado, here are my three keys to running:


Will - This one is the most important.  It is the part that gets you out the door or on whatever device you are using.  It is the part that makes you put one foot in front of the other and the one that keeps you going despite the pain.  It is also (at least for me) the hardest part to get.  I learned very quickly after not doing organized sports that making myself run without having a coach tell me to is a very difficult.  Hell, I had to create an idea where people give money to charity to get me to run.

Musculature - This is what I consider the second most important part of running.  Simply put do you have the muscles to lift your leg up and put it down.  This also includes the part of stretching and keeping care of your muscles so they don't try and kill you halfway through your run.  Speaking of I tried a bit over zealously the 2.55 mile route without really stretching yesterday.  It lead to disastrous results.  I learned no matter how good you are feeling you have to stretch and take care of your muscles.

Cardiovascular - This is the last part of running.  If you can get your butt out the door and start putting your feet in front of each other in a trudging motion then this part finally kicks in.  This is the last part that allows you to keep going but is very essential if you want to run for any real distance.


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In other news I completed my first 2.55 mile route today.  I flipped the route from what I originally posted so that the majority of it is downhill but has some quick brutal uphills instead of the opposite.  I tried running it the original way I planned but some combination of it being a new route, not stretching, and having a 1.5 mile stretch which is basically all uphill I failed miserably.  I marked myself down for 2.09 miles (the route I should have run yesterday) since there was definitely some walking towards the end as my foot fell asleep.  So the 2.09 miles is probably close to the distance that I actually ran.

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