What are the worst running habits?

In running, it’s easy to cut corners to get you closer to achieving your goal. Sometimes the stress of race day success can overwhelm you during training. Some habits are worse than others, but all bad habits can be a slippery slope to falling short of your objective. Here is our list of running habits you need to break.

Pushing too hard on recovery runs

Your coach assigned a 40-minute recovery run and asked you to keep your heart rate under 140. Instead, you go out and see how much distance you can cover in 40 minutes. A recovery run shouldn’t be a time trial, and if you’re treating them this way, it can only lead to injury or fatigue.

Recovery runs are some of the most important days in your training schedule. They are there to allow your body to heal from harder days. Resist the urge to push the pace, as it will only damage your racing aspirations.

No warm-up, no activation

There have been a few scholarly publications on how a warm-up or static stretching may not be as beneficial as you think it is, but dynamic stretching has been proven as a great way to get your heart pumping before a run. Some examples of dynamic stretching are leg swings, butt kicks, high knees and arms swings. The purpose of these stretches is to replicate the running motion without the same intensity or stress to avoid injury.

Injured but still training (overtraining)

If you are suffering from any pain or discomfort, it’s better to rest than to make things worse. Missing one or two days of training may seem like the end of the world amidst a marathon build, but at the end of the day, it won’t do any harm to your training.

Cutting things short

Don’t take the easy way out in achieving your goal by cutting the course or cutting a workout short. You have to live with the repercussions knowing that you took the easy way out and some runners will judge you for it. The aged training philosophy of “you get out, what you put in” still has relevance in this sport.

Going out too fast

The most common bad habit in running is starting too fast and then tapering off. This is a mistake all runners have made from the professional to amateur level. Try to settle in the first few minutes of your race, then speed up if your body is feeling good later on. If you’ve got gas left in the tank near the end, push it!

Comparing yourself to others

No matter the setting, it’s easy to compare your training or speed to other runners on the same team or Strava. When the urge to compare grabs you, try and remember who you’re running for. The reason you run is for you, not for so and so.

posted Thursday June 9th
by Marley Dickinson