The Biggest Misconception About Running
Unlearning this one falsity is key to building a sustainable relationship with running
How many times have you heard the following shouted from the mouth of an overly-serious middle school football coach or maybe a high school basketball coach?
“No pain, no gain.”
Personally, I’ve heard that more times than I care to remember.
Unfortunately, this notion that success and progress are predicated upon suffering is woven into the American ethos. We love to perpetuate this mindset and we are taught it from a young age. Now to a degree, overcoming pain and suffering is indeed necessary to achieve success in specific situations, but it is very context-dependent.
It is this mindset that undermines the true nature of running. The simple truth is that the level of exercise most people are concerned with is not meant to destroy you every time. In fact, for endurance sports and cardiovascular exercise, a growing body of research suggests the vast majority of your total exercising volume over a given period (a week, month, etc.) should be easy. This allows the body to adapt to the exercise while keeping the risk of injury low.
I’d argue the negative sentiment so many have for running is due to the “no pain, no gain” culture. People think back to a running memory from middle school or high school when they were panting and sucking wind during a gym class mile run. That experience is not representative of what running actually should be for the average person.
Another problem to address is that we fall victim to something often referred to as intensity blindness. This is when an individual will report exercising at a low-intensity level, but their vital measurements and other markers suggest they are exerting themselves at a higher level. In other words, when you give running a chance you often subconsciously run faster than your appropriate easy/recovery pace.
It’s admittedly counterintuitive that the human tendency when going for a run is to operate at a slightly uncomfortable pace, but being conscious of this is important in constructing a sustainable relationship with running.
A quick, as old as time, check to use when running “easy” is that you should be able to talk in nearly complete sentences and not feel the need to stop for rest. If you are having trouble maintaining casual conversation, you likely need to run slower (which is fine by the way).
In case you wanted an image of what sustainable running looks like, here you go:
Notice anything in particular? Many of them are smiling, not straining.
Ultimately, whether you run recreationally or competitively, whether you are motivated by weight loss, clearing your mind, or for the simple purpose of challenging yourself, understand this: if you start slow, you’ll go far.
Happy running.
Samuel Gerstenbacher is a business analyst, sub-elite runner, and casual writer. His writing covers topics ranging from introspection and exercise to business ethics and politics. You can follow him here on Medium and connect with him on LinkedIn too.
Finally, if you are interested, check out my podcast on on all things running, among other things, on Spotify!
