I walk a mile in your shoes
And now I’m a mile away
And I’ve got your shoes
Kings of Leon
Have you ever seen a baby giraffe learning how to walk? If you haven’t, here you go:
You may be asking yourself: “Tim, why are you making me watch this video of a giraffe learning to walk?” Some of you may think that I will be drawing a comparison to my height and that of a giraffe, others may go down the path that like giraffes, I too enjoy wearing random patterns.
Well both of the above are true, but I would ask that you focus on how uncoordinated that poor calf looks trying to stand and walk. You know that it looks comical, you can’t look away, but you know that at some point that giraffe is going to figure it out and be majestic af.
My whole life I have been a baby giraffe when it comes to running. Once upon a time I was a swimmer and a rower before transitioning to training for triathlon. Throw me in a pool, lake, ocean, etc. and I am snug as a bug in a rug. Ask me to run a mile, and my heart starts sweating.
Smooth is Fast, Fast is Smooth
Now I’m not “majestic af” quite yet, but have learned a thing or two about what I need to become a better runner.
- Analysis paralysis can be a thing even when running
- I am getting into endurance sport during a tech revolution and it’s incredibly difficult not getting wrapped up in the craze. There are so many numbers, charts and graphs that “tell” me how I’m doing and what I should do to improve, yet I find that those numbers in real-time cause more harm than good. I’ve learned that unplugging and running without a pace or power-output staring at me from my wrist actually helps me run more relaxed and comfortably leading to a better run, better workout, and a better effort
- Stretching is important
- If you would’ve asked me years ago: “Tim, are you flexible?” the answer would have been: “No!”. What I didn’t know at the time was that it was possible for me to become even less flexible. It’s only recently that I started stretching regularly, that I have realized that taking care of my muscles outside of a workout is just as important as taking care of them during the workout. The more I stretch, the better my muscles feel and the better they perform for the next workout
- Sometimes you have to dance it out
- It’s in my nature to look for a fault in everything, whether it’s a recipe that I’m trying for the first time or a sentence in this blog, I have a running commentary of feedback in my mind that prevents me from accepting anything less than perfect. This commentary — which when running I likened to a barking dog if its left unaddressed — lead to some rather depressing runs when I was starting out. I knew that I wasn’t fast and I knew that I wasn’t running “right”, believing that I need to be more serious, I approached my runs in a stoic and clinical manner. As I’ve started to listen to my body more and my watch less, I’ve found my thoughts feeling lighter and more positive than before, sometimes catching myself singing along or dancing along to whatever I might be listening to
As it starts to get warmer, I am looking forward to lacing up my running shoes, and heading out the door, knowing that the humble giraffe will learn to run as long as it keeps putting one wobbly foot in-front of the other.