What Are Your Bad Running Habits?
Sunday June 28, 2009
Whenever I have a bad run or race, I try to learn from mistakes I may have made and try not to make those same errors again. But sometimes it can be tough to break certain bad running habits. For me, I sometimes skip or rush my warm-up, usually because I'm just eager to get started with the meat of my workout. But neglecting my warm-up often results in developing a side stitch or feeling tight during my first couple of speed intervals.
Correcting a bad running habit can be tough, but I find that it helps if I make notes about any mistakes I may have made in my training journal. Writing it down makes me more aware of my mistake and, when I review my notes about runs and races, I'm reminded not to make that same mistake.
What about you? Are you guilty of any bad running habits? Do you forget to stretch after your runs? Do you not hydrate properly? Sometimes skip breakfast before a long run? Share your bad running habits and your strategies for eliminating them.
More:
I sometimes shout when I felt miserable in my long run, the last mile when I felt extremely exhausted and wanted to quit. There is no runner high for me. From my experience, the so-called runner high is the lessening of the pain one feels when they are extremely exhausted. After that point, the pain is lessened somewhat. Shouting sometimes lessens the pain. It’s good for me but not for people around me. Sometimes I got angry when I am exhausted and started cursing myself. It also lessens the pain somewhat.
Mine is running too fast. I always have to run slower than I want to.
This may sound strange…but my ‘bad running habit’ would be to keep on changing the songs on my iPod. Sometimes, when I am in a particular mood, I feel like listening to a specific song and so I keep on hunting for that song in my playlist. And creating a separate playlist doesnot work because I have no idea beforehand of which songs I’ll feel like listening today!
This diverts my attention from running.