Stop Apologizing for Running Slowly
There is a good chance that you consider yourself a slow runner – and you shouldn’t. Victories can be celebrated at any speed. Ask those around you and you’ll likely find that the runners you admire also consider themselves “slow.”
I started to run slowly. I still considered myself slow when I won my first medal in the age group. I avoided groups of runners because I was sure they were all faster than me. “I would like to run with you someday, but I am slow,” I said to my friends, who, I knew, were also running. Sometimes they said it to me first. Professional runner and trainer Jeff Godette writes in Competitor that so many runners fall into this trap:
Almost every runner who joined [my] group introduced themselves to me, stating, “I am probably the slowest person you ever coached,” or “you probably don’t run runners as slow as me.”
No matter what their personal records actually were, almost all conversations started the same way.
… Many runners, both novice and experienced, are hesitant to join local running groups or participate in online communities. When asked why, most responds that they are confused by how slow they are.
Everyone runs slower, Godette writes, but all runners can relate to the hard work that goes into achieving their personal best times. This is an achievement, whether it is 5 km in 15 minutes or in 30 minutes.
And slowness shouldn’t stop you from running with others – most runners are willing to slow down on occasion to run with a friend, especially since running slowly is an important part of training . It’s not hard to find a running group with people that match your speed; The hardest part is overcoming imaginary embarrassment.
If you run slowly, who cares? | Competitor
Photo by Ramnath Bhat .
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