QT: What Got You Here May Not Get Your There (Best Of-ish)

This post/episode was originally published in February of 2017. The post/show notes are more or less copy/pasted from the original post, but the podcast audio is a new take on the topic.

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Where do you want to be, with regards to your running, in five years?

What are you willing to change to get there?

Consistency is Key

I talk about the importance of being consistent with your training a lot. And I 100% believe that if you train consistently over a long enough period of time, you will see some rather significant changes to your running.

There is a flip side to the consistency coin that, perhaps, I haven’t talked about enough in the past.

Sorry about that.

When it comes to consistency, regular training is important.

But there may come a time when you need to mix things up, potentially rather dramatically, if you want to keep making progress toward your larger goals.

Being Consistent Doesn’t Mean Doing the Same Thing Forever

To improve as a runner, you need to run regularly.

Hopefully, that makes sense.

And when I say run regularly, I don’t mean a certain number of times per week. I mean running regularly week after week, month after month, and year after year.

But that doesn’t mean you should be doing the same workouts week after week, month after month, or year after year.

That’s where mixing things up comes into play.

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

Which brings me back to my original questions: where do you want to be as a runner in five years and what changes are you willing to make in order to be there?

Because here’s the thing, if you’re not willing to change anything in your training then five years from now you’ll be right where you are today and your goals will still be five years away.

Sorry, but it’s the truth.

What has gotten you to this point in your running career isn’t going to keep you moving forward in the pursuit of your goals.

It’s just not.

So here are four suggestions of things that you can do to spice up your training a bit and keep you moving forward.

Increase Volume or Intensity (or Both)

Our bodies are great at adapting to the demands that we place upon them.

If you want to continue to move towards your goals, you must continue to increase the demands you put on your body.

Add more miles, add some speed work, run some hills, and/or increase your pace targets during hard workouts to add a little extra stress to your workouts and force your body to adapt accordingly.

Add Strength Training and the Little Things

One of the biggest disruptors to training consistently is suffering a running injury and winding up on the sidelines for weeks (or months) at a time.

Many runners believe that running injuries are simply inevitable, probably because so many runners do wind up injured each year.

Just because you’re a runner doesn’t mean you’re pre-destined to a serious of shin splints/plantar fasciitis/stress fracture/IT band injuries.

And while I wouldn’t make the claim that all of those injuries are 100% preventable, I would make the claim that running injuries can be prevented in most cases.

How?

With regular strength training and consistently doing the little things to stay healthy that I talk about so often.

A Commitment to Cross-Training

You know all of those things I just mentioned about strength training and the little things?

Most of them apply here as well.

Not only does cross-training help with injury prevention, but it also helps build your cardiovascular fitness which can have rather obvious positive impacts on your running as well.

Work With a Coach

Can I be 100% honest for a minute?

Nothing I do as a coach is some deeply guarded trade secret.

And the same holds true for just about every running coach in the world.

Sure, we all have our little nuances but, on the whole, we aren’t going to tell you to do anything dramatically different from what you’ll freely find available on the interwebs.

So why would you consider spending your hard-earned dollars on a coach?

Speaking for myself only, because I’m worth it. Why?

Having a coach means you no longer have to worry about what to do. You just have to do it.

And freeing up your bandwidth is one little change that can make a huge difference when all is said and done.

The Choice is Yours

Happy with where you are as a runner?

If so, that’s awesome! Keep on doing what you’re doing and keep enjoying the many benefits of running that you’re already experiencing.

But if you want more for yourself as a runner, you need to continue to push the boundaries (intelligently, of course).

Because remember, what got you here won’t get you there, wherever there is for you…

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To reach your long term #running goals, remember that what got you here won't get you there. #runchat Click To Tweet

What are Your Long Term Running Goals & What Will You Change in Order to Achieve Them?

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