Today, I helped a student run her first 8k.
She had only ever run a mile before it.
Some of the things I told her throughout the run:
- “Slow down.” The instinct right from the start was to go at a 40 meter dash pace (aka: sprint). The adrenaline, the excitement, the anxiety always makes you want to go faster than the long distance pace should warrant. To go further; slow down.
- “Yes, you can.” Whenever you push into new territory of “hard,” your mind is going to tell you that you “can’t.” Mainly because it has never been there before and it isn’t used to the tired that this new “hard” is facilitating. But, we’re capable of much, much more than we think. And if we can change what we think we can do—we’ll very likely do exactly that. The mind will always give up before the body.
- “Do what works.“ I recommended a slow, steady pace throughout the run. But, it wasn’t working for her. She decided that short runs followed by short walks—interval style—was better. She’d do a little run. Walk until she couldn’t see me anymore, then run again to catch up. And it’s exactly that strategy that got her past the finish line.
The most important thing I said to her, though, was to be nothing but proud of how she performed. Because while it took longer than she wanted it to take, nothing is more important than the fact that she showed up and tried her best.