How to Fix a Bad Run

Last Wednesday, I was trudging up the mountain, barely breathing. Something was squeezing my chest, and I wasn’t sure how to blame the overly tight sports bra, the heart rate monitor I’d tucked under it, my springtime allergies, or my asthma. (In retrospect: probably all four.) This wasn’t the only source of my anguish: I listened to the audio track that took me through some intervals, and I hated the instructor’s hilarious voice. And her taste in music. And I was wearing the wrong socks. And my shins hurt.

It was my first run of the season, and if it had been my first run of my life (and if I hadn’t just signed up for a half marathon in a brief moment of madness), I would probably just say “fuck that” and quit. It reminded me of our own experience as an aspiring runner, Megan Walbert, which she described here . She, too, had a disastrous first run that nearly stopped her from continuing.

But here’s the thing: I’ve been here before. It’s one thing to be a real rookie, and another to be a returning rookie with an advantage in hindsight. Each of the little problems I’ve run into has a solution, and I have some idea of ​​how to solve each one. But what is more important than being able to solve these little problems is that I believe that everything will work out. I have already run several half-marathons and once even ran a full marathon. I’m not going to be defeated by a simple three-mile run through my neighborhood, even if literally everything went wrong on the first day.

So let me tell you about my thought process between this run and the run I did a few days later. Spoiler: All problems turned out to be solvable.

First, fix your thinking

If you don’t have an injury or a problem so bad that you’ve been told to avoid running entirely, you can run. This applies to almost everything in fitness: you can lift weights, rollerblade , do push-ups every morning. This does not mean that you will do it perfectly on the first day, but there really is a way forward.

Even with all the challenges I faced, I knew that I had been able to run before and I would be able to run again. If I could say anything to myself in the past, when I was a real beginner, I would say that many people have done it before me. I can be one of them. Problems that seem big at the moment will turn out to be nothing when you look back years, months or even weeks later.

In short, you just need to replace the thought “I can’t” with “I can, but how?” and start solving.

Prioritize your problems

When you have a lot of problems at once, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by their combined weight. But some are easier to fix than others, and some don’t even need to be fixed right away.

Being able to breathe comfortably was, of course, at the top of my list. I had four things that could contribute to this: a bra, a chest strap, allergies and asthma. So let’s go through the list:

• Fortunately, I have mild asthma and have an inhaler at home. I will use it next time.
• My allergies can also usually be controlled with OTC medications, I just forgot to take them.
• I have several different sports bras that I can try on. If none of them suit me anymore, I may have to go shopping.
• The heart rate chest strap is adjustable so it’s a quick fix, but I can also just run without it.

In addition to prioritizing your problems, you can also eliminate some of them by deciding that you don’t need to address them immediately.

So I also decided what problems can be postponed until later. They included the following:

• I can tell my socks won’t be comfortable for a 10+ mile run, but for an easy 3 mile run, they’re fine. I will buy proper running socks later.
• The same with my shoes: they are fine now, but this season they will need to be replaced.
• I was planning on using an app with audio tracks to guide me during my runs, but since I hate it, I can just do a few simple runs myself while I think about whether I want to use another app or not use the app at all.
• Between my buggy Apple Watch and a heart rate strap I put on at the last minute but couldn’t connect, there was no way for me to get a heart rate reading while running. But I don’t need a heart rate reading to make my next easy run.

The heart rate issue here is a good example of how our brains can blow a small problem out of proportion. I’m used to checking my heart rate to make sure my light runs are at the right level of effort, so I really missed being able to see that number on my wrist. I’ve spent hours after my run fixing technical issues and I still don’t have a solution.

Ultimately, the problem is not “how do I get my heart rate on my watch” but “how can I go for a run”? This question is easy to answer: Forget your watch and just run . I may still be working on finding some workarounds and maybe even consider getting a new watch, but that’s something I can consider over the next few weeks and not an emergency that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Have a big plan

Like technical problems, my training plan (or lack of it) was weighing me down. I decided that I would use the program from halhigdon.com or maybe adapt the sonic marathon training plan from the Peloton app. (I hated this app. Sorry, Peloton.)

But here’s the thing: My half marathon is in six months. Over the past four years, I have not run serious distances. I don’t need a specific training plan to hone my performance on race day; I just need to get used to running again.

Get used to running again. This is my real goal. As long as I walk a few miles two or three times a week, I’ll be on the right track. I sat down and sketched out a very rough plan for the next few months. This week and next, I run no more than 30 minutes at a time. Over the next month, I’ll add a few miles here and there to get used to three runs a week by the end of May, my longest run being four to five miles.

I have already written about the pros and cons of Couch to 5K , a popular program for beginner runners. One of its strengths is that people immediately stick to the program. One of its weaknesses is that not everyone wants or needs to stick to the program hard right away. In the beginning, the fact that you develop a habit matters more than how you develop the habit.

Don’t let pain and pain lead you astray

Let’s go back to the little thing I mentioned that strikes fear into the hearts of many aspiring runners: something hurts .

For me, it was my shins. A shin splint is a common rookie injury (both for real beginners and those coming back from a break), but I started to feel a little sharp pain within minutes of my first run. Calm down, catastrophe-brain. You don’t give yourself a shin splint in minutes.

Maybe for you it will be knees, or ankles, or feet, or something else. The first thing to remember is that feeling pain doesn’t always mean you hurt yourself. Sometimes you just feel a new sensation and your body thinks, “Wait, what the hell?”

Every time I felt that little bit of pain, I slowed down or did something different, like jumping from the pavement to the grass or vice versa. It came and went and by the end I was able to mostly ignore it.

When I was at home, I made sure to read up on how to prevent a shin splint and beginner runner injuries in general. Probably the most important thing new runners should know is that the most common running injuries tend to follow a sudden increase in mileage or intensity—in other words, when you run more or harder than usual. And another important thing is that rest alone does not solve problems.

Beyond extreme injuries such as stress fractures, coping with the injury is usually part of the solution. This shin-specific episode of Running Strength’s podcast (which you can listen to while you run) is a great way to understand how to prevent and manage this particular injury. One great tip from this episode: if you notice that your shins are getting a little tender after a run, make your next run as unusual as possible. Try a different surface (road, trail, treadmill), a different pair of shoes, a different type of workout (maybe light running instead of uphill reps), and so on.

My second run

After that disastrous first run, much thought and prioritization, how did I manage my second run of the season? Quite different.

First I took allergy medicine. (I considered using my inhaler, but ended up not needing it.)

Then I did a fitting on my collection of sports bras. Unfortunately, my favorite and trusted old bras from my past life as a runner got so worn out that I had to throw them away during the pre-cleaning. But I found three that still fit comfortably and chose one to test drive that day.

I thought about doing without the watch, but ended up reinstalling the Strava app. It can track time and distance, which is handy even if I don’t have a pulse.

I rode the nice flat path in the park instead of running up the steep hills in my area. I chose a path that makes a short loop so that if I wanted to add or remove a layer of clothing, I could stop at my car.

That day I decided to do an easy jog. And since I don’t need a specific track for a light jog, I’m putting on a podcast episode (Behind the Bastards, if you’re interested) to keep me occupied. I like music for the hard work and podcasts or audiobooks for the easy days.

And you know what? This run went great. My clothes were comfortable, my lungs were functioning properly, and I went jogging, finding out how many people died due to rampant food adulteration in the early 1900s, instead of listening to a coach yelling motivational nonsense over bad music. (Look, this is my idea of ​​fun, okay?)

I was able to effortlessly just pay attention to how I felt instead of constantly checking the number on my wrist, and amazingly, my lower legs felt completely normal. I felt so good that I almost added another circle at the end. But the plan was for 30 minutes, and I reached my goal, so I finished on schedule. There will be other races.