Sometimes when I run, my body is firing on all cylinders. My legs feel light, my lungs feel full, and my brain is engaged and excited. At the end of these enjoyable runs, I look down at my watch, and think, “Wow! That was the greatest! I nailed it! I love running!” And sometimes the complete opposite is true. My internal dialogue goes more like, “Wow. That was the worst. I failed. I hate running.”
As a mom, there are so many factors that can take away from an enjoyable run. Maybe you didn’t get much sleep last night. Maybe you were too tired to stretch out after your last run, and now you’re so stiff you can’t move. Maybe you have a tiny human being growing inside of you that is leaching away your supply of oxygen. Maybe we are getting older… No, that couldn’t be it! But, I know for a fact that there is always a 100% chance of mom brain.
Running should be fun. It shouldn’t be a chore, or something you try to shove in when really you should be taking a nap. It’s about balance, remember? So when your legs, your lungs, or your brain (or all three at once) are turning your runs into repetitious torture sessions, it may be time to troubleshoot. Let’s take a few minutes and do a quick rundown of common issues that make a run less enjoyable, and talk about how to fix it.
Legs
Us runners have such nice legs, don’t we? Our legs serve us in so many ways, except when they cheat us. I’ve done many runs where my legs felt more like rods of lead than sexy powerhouses. I’m sure you have too. Maybe it was just a one time thing, but if the sexy powerhouses are more often rods of lead, then there could be an issue.
Warmup and cool down
Let’s be honest. When my husband agrees to watch the kids for an hour or two while I go for a long run, I don’t want to spend any of that time warming up. My warmup is usually the walk down my driveway to the road, and the first mile of my run. While this would fly in my twenties, I’m starting to realize that if my legs feel like Jell-O, or if I have persistent aches and pains my whole run, I should have warmed my muscles up better. Even just five minutes of dynamic movements before your run will make the actual run more enjoyable.
What do I mean by dynamic movements? That means get the blood flowing in ways that mimic running! Do some arm swings. March in place and hug each knee up to your chest. Do some butt kicks, hip circles, leg swings, air squats, side lunges, high knees, and rock back and forth from your heels to your toes. In just five minutes, the blood will already be flowing, priming your body for your run.
In the same way, take five minutes to cool down after you run. For me, this is the walk back up my driveway. Allow your heart rate to slow back down before you just completely stop. If you did a harder effort that day, maybe do some light jogging instead. Try not to skip it. Your legs will thank you on your next run.
Its called foam rolling, not self-inflicted torture
I’m convinced that the only difference between elite runners and me is that they have professionals to help them recover. Oh, and maybe they are a little faster than me. Ok, they are a lot faster. But maybe they are faster because they have such excellent recovery resources! If I was able to get a full body massage after every run, I bet my legs wouldn’t ache either!
Well, I don’t have a personal massage therapist, but I do have a foam roller, a stretching rope, and one of those handheld rolling pin thingies. I use them. If you don’t use any of these things, of course your legs will hate you during and after your runs. Take 5-10 minutes after each run and do some maintenance on yourself. Gently stretch the muscles that just worked so hard. Breathe into your stretches, and allow your body weight to pull you down, elongating tight muscles. Use the foam roller to massage out the huge knots in your quads that are making your hips wonky. (It’s all connected, you know.)
I know foam rolling and stretching are sometimes painful, maybe even tortuous. Even after 5-10 minutes though, my legs already feel so much better the remainder of that day and during my next run. The more consistently I foam roll, the better it feels–more like a massage and less like a painful prod. I fully believe that if you don’t allow your body to stretch and regain its flexibility and full range of motion, your will lose this ability. It will also make your subsequent runs less enjoyable.
By the way, if you sit a lot, make sure you get up and gently move your body and stretch so that the blood can flow again. Don’t let tight hamstrings and hips make your runs awful. Stretch and roll people!
Cross train
Cross training will help your legs so much. Simply running all the time uses the same muscles over and over again, creating fatigue and imbalances in your running muscles. Don’t forget to do some squats, lunges, deadlifts, or any other movements that require you to hinge at the hip and bear a load. Bridges and other glute exercises are also excellent. These kinds of exercises will really improve your running economy and will make your legs stronger for your runs.
I’m also a huge fan of single leg exercises, for example, single leg lunges or single leg deadlifts. I love single leg exercises because it really helps you spot imbalances or favoritism of certain legs or muscle groups. These exercises sound scary but are not. For a single leg lunge, simply put one leg up on a bench behind you and perform a lunge like you always would. Remember to keep your knee behind your toes. You can do this with or without weight. For a single leg deadlift, let one leg come up behind you as you hinge at the hip in your deadlift. You can hold the wall or a chair for balance if you wish, or add a weight.
Recovery
I have been guilty of forcing myself to go for a run the day after the baby kept me up all night. My legs were shot and the run was NOT enjoyable. Listen to your body. If you are consistently not letting your body get the rest and recovery it needs, your tired legs may be trying to tell you something. Take a nap instead! You can run more later.
I also try not to run two days in a row, unless I am really training hard for something. I cross train on the off days. This may or may not work for you. Listen to you legs!
Lungs
I knew I was pregnant with my second when I suddenly couldn’t keep enough air in my lungs on my runs. Ha, what a funny feeling! Suddenly, my lungs were making my runs less enjoyable! While pregnancy is of course a limited-time deal, and won’t always cause problems on runs, breathing problems mid-run do at times cause issues.
I never have to think about my breathing unless for some reason I suddenly can’t breathe. For example, sometimes my lungs just won’t serve me on my speed runs. At the end of a repeat, I may find myself erratically gasping for air. When this happens, I really have to focus on my breathing. Never be afraid to turn a speed run into a breathing-focused run. Your run will be more enjoyable if you do. If this happens, on your next repeat really focus on completely filling up your lungs, and then completely emptying them. Some people like to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Try to establish a breathing rhythm with your running cadence and maintain it to the end of your repeat.
Side stitches
Yuck. Side stitches are not enjoyable. Did you know the majority of side stitches mid-run come from eating or drinking too much prior to running? The extra weight of the food or water in your belly can restrict your diaphragm, throwing off your breathing. Plan to leave a couple of hours for your food to digest before you go for a run, and resist the urge to drink too much water beforehand. If a side stitch just won’t go away during a run, go ahead a slow to walk for a minute or two, and once again focus on completely filling and emptying your lungs. Hopefully the stitch will go away and you can continue on your run.
Side stitches can also be prevented by doing good core exercises. That does not mean a million sit ups! Exercises that work your deep core muscles, such as your transverse abdominis, will help your breathing as well as your posture and your mummy tummy! Check out this article for some ideas to work your deep core.
Brain
Sometimes our brains can be the biggest obstacle we have to overcome on our runs. Just getting out the door can be a struggle on some days, much less conquering lots of miles. The funniest thing about my brain is sometimes I feel like I need to engage my brain on my runs more, while at other times I need to engage it less! Do you know what I mean? Sometimes all I can think about are all the miles ahead of me, and the weight of it drags me down, even from mile one. I would like to engage my brain less! But at other times, my brain is just in a fog and I can’t focus on my run properly. I need to engage my mind more! Here are some tips for either scenario.
Powering your brain
Do long runs get you down? Find a way to make the miles pass! I love listening to podcasts when I run. Some people are music only, but on a long run, I love a podcast that can take up an hour of the time. I find that the time passes more quickly, and the podcasts help me solve my problems! Focus on the Family, Family Life Today, and several others give me advice on my children, my marriage, and my soul. I have had so many moments on my runs when I know God has been speaking to me through these podcasts. Find a podcast, or a good running playlist that is right for you, and your brain will be happier on a run.
Another way to engage your brain is to switch up your run a little bit. Go for a trail run instead of a road run, or run a normal running route backwards. Throw some bursts of speed in there, or maybe a few walk breaks instead. Ditch your running watch if it is discouraging you, and run simply for the fun of it. Speed and splits aren’t everything.
Go for a walk, bike ride, or swim instead! If you are dreading a run, cross training is your friend. Sometimes I can get my brain really excited about a mountain bike ride when a run seems like torture. Then, I am even more ready for my next run!
Overcoming your brain
I can easily overthink my run. Sometimes simply taking my brain out of the picture can help. What do I mean by this? There is a lot of brain science that goes into the mind and exercise. I am no brain scientist, but this stuff is fascinating.
The first thing that can help is having a certain time that is run time. For me, when my daughter goes to preschool two days a week, my son and I always go for a run. I don’t question it. My brain knows it, and I don’t have to think about it. If your brain always comes up with a reason to skip a run, try to establish a habit that you eventually won’t even have to think about.
During a run, overcoming negative thoughts is crucial. Sometimes, a mantra that you repeat over and over to yourself can be beneficial. The one I like to say is, “The faster I run, the sooner I’m done.” Not correct grammar, as my mom would note, but it gets the job done for me! I like to say this towards the end of my run when I’m getting tired and want to quit. It helps me push through to the end.
I can also tell a huge difference when I chunk my run. If I have a long run, I like to break it up into sections, or chunks. While I am running the first section, I think only about coming to the end of it. I picture myself coming to the end of the first chunk feeling strong. Then, I focus on the end of the second chunk, and so on until the end of my run. Instead of my brain thinking about the endless miles ahead of me, I can easily accomplish each smaller chunk.
Also, never underestimate the power of a good goal. If your runs are not enjoyable at the moment, establish a goal and then go after it! Maybe your goal is training for a race. Maybe you want to run a PR at that race, or maybe the race is a new distance you have never ran before. Your goal could be running a trail race, or a team race, or a duathlon or triathlon. A new goal can keep your brain happily engaged, instead of negatively engaged.
Once again… recovery
Dreading runs is never the goal. That is the first sign of overtraining. If your brain keeps telling you you don’t want to run, but you force yourself to do it anyway, you are taking yourself out of the game. This is never a good idea in the long run. Listen to your body. Take time off if you need to. Take a whole week or even two off! You can and will bounce back, maybe even sooner than if you had pushed through. Rest, recover, sleep, and eat healthy. Do whatever it takes to make sure your legs, lungs, and brain are completely in sync for each run, as much as possible. Your body will thank you, and your runs will once again be enjoyable.