DTFAMR– Basic Rules To Keep In Mind For Running – Blog #1

Varun Bhat
Sep 3, 2018 · 9 min read

As an amateur marathon runner, there were many things which I didn’t know about in marathon running. When I started 12 months ago, all I was thinking was to get fit, lose weight and run better. I didn’t think of running as a technical sport. Sometimes we fail to understand that the simplest things are actually the hardest to achieve. Through several emotional and physical ups and downs I realised the importance of strategic planning for running. No runner can actually think of getting fit without a proper routine and if you are scared of routines, marathoning isn’t the sport for you. Routine teaches you patience and helps you understand the miniscule details involved in the rhythmic dance form that is running. Surprised on hearing Running being a dance form? If you think about it, running is a dance form with just 1 step done in a repeated motion for an elongated period of time. Thanks to the wonders of bio-mechanics!

So before you start your journey with me, I want you folks to keep a number of ‘Rules’ in mind about the physical and mental conditioning required for running. Keep these rules in mind at all times while running and while resting as well. These rules are meant to serve as a form of self-reflection everytime you feel low or confused as a runner. So here they go:

1. The Road Is Never Going To Be Easy

Marathon Running is all about understanding your body and mind and assessing and re-evaluating your relationship with fitness. When I began Running, I weighed 107 kilos, ate junk all the time, didn’t take care of what I was putting into my body but the problems didn’t end there. I was into severe depression and anxiety and being socially awkward made it even worse. I realised that a mixture of many factors were responsible for how I felt during my running sessions. And not all of them were related to running per se!

The road symbolizes the difficulties you face in life. If you notice, running on the road is tougher than running on a treadmill with an incline. This is because of the number of variations and variables road running throws at you compared to running indoors. Always respect the road because through your own journey of marathon running, you will eventually discover your reasons to stick to the sport. Take new paths, run better distances! Always remember why you began running in the first place – For the joy of overcoming obstacles and feeling great about yourself!

2. When In Pain, Go To Sleep!

Understand that running is a dynamic and high-impact sport. Physiologically speaking, we humans have the best biomechanics available in nature to run long distances. Our ability to run and endure pain caused our species to spread far and wide across all the continents. But this marvel of nature shouldn’t be taken for granted. Our body needs 6–8 hours of undisturbed sleep to recover from the muscle damage caused by running. Try these simple tricks for better recovery:

  1. Make sure you call it a day at around 10–11 pm
  2. Drink a glass of cold milk with soaked almonds 20 minutes before you sleep
  3. Practice 5 minutes of still meditation before you go to sleep. Lie down in a comfortable position with your palms open, chest facing up and body at rest. Breathe in for 4 seconds, Hold for 7 seconds and Breathe out slowly for 8 seconds. Repeat this exercise for around 20–30 reps. It should make you feel dizzy enough for a wonderful sleep!
  4. Stay away from your mobile! Buy an alarm clock for your room and set it away from the reach of your hands. Make sure you are getting enough sleep!
  5. Rewind and revise your day, what went right, what can be done better tomorrow. Visualisation actually helps in getting better sleep. You can also try listening to some light music!

3. Slow and Steady Finishes The Race!

Understand that marathoning is not about how fast you run but about how well you are running. Take things slow in the beginning. Always start by run-walking.

Walk for 2 minutes, Run for 1 minute, Sprint for 15 seconds * 10 reps

^This should be your go to Run-Walk strategy for the first 2–3 weeks of running. Start getting comfortable with your body. For some they may take 3 weeks and some may take 1 week to master this short workout but it is a great way of getting your body used to the effort involved in Running

Walk for 1 minute, Run for 2 minutes and Sprint for 15 seconds – Stage Two

Walk for 30 seconds, Run for 3 minutes and sprint for 15 seconds – Stage Three

Keep increasing the difficulty of your sets by reducing the amount of time you walk and increasing the time you spend running.

After a couple of weeks you will start feeling that your body feels comfortable running at a particular pace and starts hurting when you slow down. Remember this pace. This pace will be your beginning Tempo Run Pace for the rest of your training sessions if you continue following my blogs and start following my designed running routine. Duringthe entire course of your running you will be assessing yourself every month. Keep a track record of your pace. You can use apps like Strava or Runkeeper for this purpose. The pace at which your body feels comfortable running is your Tempo pace. Your goal should be to constantly keep improving this pace!

4. Nutrition is the key to success

We all know that our body looks and behaves depending on what we put inside it. It’s a biomechanical machine that needs constant oiling and fuel to keep it going, more so if you are stressing yourself through running. Running is a high impact sport which means that you are putting your body through stress for elongated period of time. This causes a lot of stress on the joints and muscles which in turn lead to permanent injuries. To stay fit and run faster it is essential that you constitute your diet in the following manner:

Carbs – 50% of your diet

Proteins-30% of your diet

Vitamins and Minerals-10% of your diet

Fats – 10 % of your diet

*Eat proteins according to your body weight I.e if you weight 80 kilos right now and want to build muscle, you need to eat 80+ g of protein per day if you want to build muscle, =80g of protein if you want to maintain your muscle mass and <80 g of protein if you want to lose muscle mass.

*Carbohydrates are an essential part of a runners diet. Your meals should consist of Complex Carbohydrates like Oatmeal, Red Rice, Brown Rice, Broken Wheat, Multigrain Bread, Whole Wheat Maida Free Rotis,Museli etc.

Completely avoid Simple Carbohydrates like White Dosa, White Rice, Maida(Wheat Flour), etc as they stay in your body for only 2–3 hours where as complex carbohydrates stay in your body for 5–6 hours thus making you feel less hungry. Also, carbohydrates like Museli and Oats have been shown to lower bad cholesterol and improve metabolism.

*Eat Your Veggies. And eat a lot of them. Stew them or make them into a delicious curry but certainly use less of oil, spices and salt. Salt retains water in your body which makes you look chubby even if you have lost fat. We don’t want our results to not show, do we?

*Drink enough water. The trick is to drink at least 2 glasses of water in the span of every 3–4 hours. Having said that, don’t force yourself to drink water when you don’t feel like it. Trust your body clock, it will let you know!

*Eat a good amount of good fats in a day. Good fats act like lubricants for your joints which in the longer run help in healing and recovery. Your sources of fats should be Nuts, Paneer, Ghee (in limited amounts), Milk, Meats and other Dairy Products. Egg is also a great source of good fat.

*Completely avoid white sugar. This means no dessert or cakes! Sorry, but discipline is a tough road to run on :p

*No biscuits, No processed cheese, No Fast Foods, No bakery products, No Indian Sweets, No Chaat, No Fried Items and Definitely No To Chicken Tikka Masala! (Which means avoid eating things loaded with spices)

I will be writing more on diet and nutrition for running in my upcoming blogs. So stay tuned for more on Nutrition!

5. Never miss those workout sessions!

Running needs muscle recovery and maintaining and training your muscles and joints go a long way in improving yourself as a runner.

Your ideal workout should include:

  1. Strength Training: Improving the longetivity of muscles and joints to perform motion
  2. Weight Training: Improving the load bearing capacity of muscles and joints by subjecting them to repeated amounts of controlled stress
  3. Cardio: Improving your cardio-vascular fitness by running, cycling cross training
  4. REST AND RECOVERY: This is a crucial part of training that runners miss out on. Ideally you should have 1–2 days of complete rest in your entire week. Your body needs time to grow and repair itself. Treat it carefully. Keep moving around and doing your usual chores while in the rest phase. The goal is to rest and recover, not laze around!

I will talk more on Workouts and Physical conditioning in upcoming blogs. I will be talking there about which workouts to do, how to design your own running plan and what not to do while training for a marathon.

6. You need a stable Mind for stable Feet!

We go through so much everyday, meet so many people, experience so many events, as human beings our mind needs to ‘flush out’ toxins as well.

Every month, make it a point to go out and treat yourself to the one thing you always wanted to eat or drink. A cheat meal once in a while acts as a great morale booster. Having a pint of beer is fine once a month but one must remember that beer is pure calories. So enjoy it in moderation!

Totally avoid hard drinks like rum, vodka, whiskey etc as they drain your body of water and make you feel dehydrated. Plus, there is a high chance of over dosing and causing physiological harm to your liver and kidneys. So stay safe!

If you feel that running by yourself is boring, find yourself a running group. Jayanagar Jaguars, RunAddicts,Nike Running Club are some of the well known running groups in Bengaluru. Group running keeps you motivated and makes running an enjoyable and shared experience!

Start taking part in short 5k and 10k races before going for the big guns. It will not only boost your morale but also help you work on your flaws better!

Start running for charities! There are several organisations and charities that need your support through donations. You can raise money for some of these organisations through your running! Being part of a running group helps sometimes as many groups are also associated to several NGOs and have good connections amongst the local running circuit. Running for a cause will give you something noble to look forward to and help someone in need. So don’t look back if you get a chance to do so! Popular marathons that have Run for a Cause are Tata Mumbai Marathon(January), Shriram Properties Bengaluru Marathon(October) and Airtel Delhi Marathon (Dates Fluctuate). So keep an eye on these events to make a small change through your running!

In the next blog I will be talking extensively on Running Diet and Nutrition. Stay Tuned and Keep Running!! 😎🏃🏽‍♂️

Varun Bhat

Written by

UI / UX designer, Marathon Runner, Innovator, Design Thinker, Writer and an Artist.

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