Running is sometimes very tough
"You're running on guts. On fumes. Your muscles twitch. You throw up. You're delirious. But you keep running because there's no way out of this hell you're in, because there's no way you're not crossing the finish line. It's a misery that non-runners don't understand." - Martine Costello
That's a quote I found yesterday and everything here is totally true. Sometimes it's really really hard to run, sometimes you want to give up and nothing matters, you just want to sit down and don't run. And I am not talking just about races, it happens in trainings as well.
I am always talking about the joy of running, but sometimes running is really tough, sometimes you feel like you are going to faint or won't finish your training because it's too hot, it's too long, you are too tired.
I had this feeling a lot of times. Sometimes you know that there are 10 kilometers left to finish your training, but you are all destroyed, every step seems like 1k distance. Once I ran into a forest and I felt so bad that I had to walk 6k back to my home. Once my trainer had to walk 15k back to his home because of having no power to run.
Sometimes you don't want to run another fartlek distance, because you have no power for that. Sometimes you even don't want to go out and run, you want just to be at home and watch TV, because your battery is off.
And a lot of non runners won't understand why we still run when we are totally tired, when it's raining like hell, when the temperature is -4 by Farenheit or even less. We run, because we believe in running, we love it, we beat our limits, we are people of challenges.
Those bad feelings don't stop runners, they know that next time they will be stronger because of not giving up now.
How to avoid such bad feelings?
It's really hard to predict your feelings. Sometimes it's really easy to run in the morning, but when running in the evening you feel destroyed. Sometimes you run 10k very easily, but just after few minutes you feel tired and every step is very hard.
If you want to decrease opportunity of such feelings, I think there are few ways.
First, you should run really slowly in the beginning. Most runners use their all power for first kilometers and don't have enough to finish their run. It's much better to run slowly and warm up in the beginning.
Second, you should rest if you feel that you are too tired. Take one day off, if it's necessary - 2 or more. Always take time to recover.
Third, drink enough water after your training and eat as much as you think is needed for you. Food is your power. A lot of people eat too less and they don't have enough power when running. Do not do this mistake.
Fourth, if you feel that it's really hard to run, stop and do some stretching exercises, relax for few minutes and run further. I sometimes do this and it always helps me to get my power back.
Running is hard sport, but rewarding
Despite the fact that sometimes running is really hard, tough and very demanding, running is joyful. If it is not joyful, so why thousands of people run everyday, every morning and every evening? Why thousands of people get up when feeling very tired and destroyed still run? I think the answer is pretty clear - running is rewarding, joyful and challenging.