You do your body an excellent service when you make running a habit. But there’s always the danger of overdoing it or not doing it correctly. When it comes to exercise, you can either be building yourself up or tearing yourself down. It’s easy for running to turn into the very instrument that delivers a detrimental blow to your health.
If you want to keep reaping the rewards of running, you have to make a conscious decision about it. This means recognizing the many ways it can go wrong and learning how to deal with them.
Neglecting the Health of Your Feet
Thirty-three joints, 26 bones, and a complex network of over a hundred muscles, ligaments, and tendons—that’s what enables each foot to support your running habit. While it’s evident that your feet do most of the work in this exercise, it’s can also be the body part you least cater to unless they start aching.
If you’re experiencing discomfort in your feet while doing your daily run in Singapore, book an appointment with a podiatry clinic. Household remedies like icing help, but they’re not always the solution you need. Refusing to seek expert medical assistance can further strain your feet and lead to severe injuries. At this point, a condition will either mean a temporary halt in running or a permanent one. Seek medical help at once for chronic or unusual pain. Doing so will ensure better runs for years to come.
Focusing Too Much on Results
Goals keep runners motivated. It can also suck the fun out of running. There’s a fine line between motivation and obsession that you need to recognize early on. When you get too worked up about your pace, mileage, and race results, it can lead to discouragement and even self-depreciation. Running becomes the stressor instead of the stress reliever.
Remember that it’s as mental as it is physical. Your attitude towards running affects your performance and the degree in which it benefits you.
Consider other exercises like yoga or Pilates to relieve your mind. Taking a step back now and then will help you appreciate your progress and the limits you’ve pushed your body to. Before you go on your next run, adjust your goals and expectations to a practical standard. Forgive yourself for not always achieving them and strive for excellence without overdoing it.
Refusing to Rest
There’s a time to push your body, and there’s a time to listen to it. Rest is essential to your recovery, especially if you’re working to increase your pace and mileage. The microscopic tears in your muscles incurred during a run heal when you take a day off from your usual training.
You might find scheduling and spending rest days tricky at first, though. Some runners claim that it’s difficult to regain their momentum when they skip even one run. Others think that their energy level is the primary indicator that their body is still up for training. Counter-intuitive as it sounds, sticking to your planned rest day is what helps you perform better in the long run.
Treat rest with the same respect you treat running.
Enjoying the health benefits of running requires a balance of many things. With time, you’ll learn to recognize the signals that your body is sending you. Listen to it and find what works for you as you strive to become a better and faster runner.
