Find a way to keep it fun and keep it going!
Pandemic Running was never a topic I thought to address and I hope this is a one and done soon to be lost in the archives. Some of you are on the front lines working in hospitals, as first responders, or other essential jobs that go on in the face of risk. Thank you from all of us who benefit from your work. My hope in writing this is that I can offer some guidance in how to best manage this unprecedented situation. One of the many immediate lessons to all of us was the importance of running in our lives. Running is about fitness and competitive sport, but more than anything it is a life affirming activity. If the fitness and competitive aspects were to disappear, the mental, social, and for lack of a more comfortable term, spiritual benefits would remain making it an important part of our lives. This is why it is important for us to figure out how to make running fit in our current normal.
I doubt there is anyone whose daily routine is normal right now. Some of you are wearing more hats than before especially if you’re spending 24/7 at home with your family. I encourage you to find some semblance of routine because your body thrives on it. Here are a few steps to establish routine through chaos. You might not be able to give running its normal place of importance but try to find a spot. That might mean 2-3 short runs a week instead of your normal 40 mile week. Try to limit consecutive off days at 2 and run at least a few miles. When possible run at the same time each day you are able to get out. Additionally, make the effort to get out of bed at the same time everyday as that promotes routine and quality sleep. Sleep is an incredibly important and undervalued health habit.
Respect the stress. We all feel it. For some it’s a constant low-grade nagging in the back of your mind and you can manage for the most part to ignore it. For others this thing is in your face all day every day and it takes quite an effort to escape it. Be aware of what this kind of stress at either end of that spectrum can do to you. Many of us won’t know how stressful this has been until the veil has been lifted and we are back to normal (that will happen, right?). From a running standpoint we need to differentiate stress between acute and chronic. Acute stress is something that you feel in the moment. Maybe you’re running a hard interval and it takes a few minutes to get your legs and your lungs back after that kind of effort. As rough as that sounds it is the least worrisome in this situation. It’s the chronic stress that can break you down and affect your immune system. For example, heavy segments of marathon training during a period of high mileage and significant quality when you just can’t quite catch up on recovery. There are times and situations where that’s acceptable and even desired. However, this is not one of those times. Add that chronic training stress to the constant weight of living through a pandemic and you have risen to an unacceptably high risk of injury and illness. Being injured robs you of a needed physical outlet and any illness makes you and those around you more susceptible to major illness.
How much running should you be doing? Find an amount that feels good. We know that at its core, exercise in general is recommended because it’s healthy. It helps you sleep, combat stress, and it keeps your blood profile and other disease risk factors in line. The last thing that we need to do now is to give up something with those benefits.
Of course, we can take a good thing way too far and that’s always a temptation for a competitive runner. If you’re feeling worn down if you’re taking longer than normal to recover from a long run or quality workout, back off. Even if you are doing less than what might be normal for you it still might be too much under the circumstances. Keep a very close eye on recovery. One of the axioms I’m very fond of is recovery tells us everything. If it took longer to recover, then it is too much right now. You’re not sure? Back off anyway. Take your time to get recovered and ease back into it. We are all much better getting to the other end of this thing in somewhat reasonable shape while maintaining our health and our sanity.
Let’s address racing. Like everything else in life, race plans all seemed to change overnight and continue to change. It would be easy to throw up our hands, recognize there is nothing we can do about it and stop training. We know if we look at what you can do even with semi magical training over a month or two, it is nothing compared to what you can do over 4 to 6 months. This is your chance to put more training in your lifetime bank and be a better runner when it’s time to race again. This is an opportunity giving you extra time allowing you to be more conservative and careful with your buildup and still end with more training and fitness heading into your next races. You may have enough time between now and your next meaningful race that you can focus on something in the short term of 2 to 3 months and then become more specific as your race gets closer. We know if we live the same season over and over training the same way for the same distance, you’re not going to see the progress as if you change things and refocus the mileage and the intensity in a cyclical manner. This gives you that opportunity.
Stay safe & healthy and let’s run through this thing!
Postscript That’s all fine and well, but you say, “I can’t get outside (circumstances or local order) to run. I have no treadmill and no exercise equipment. I guess I have no option but to get slow and soft until things change.”
That’s up to you. Remember maintenance does not take much and keeping your head in the game is as important as the physical training effect. You are mostly limited by creativity. See YouTube for good and bad ideas if that’s you. Circuit training may be a good way to go. Develop a list of exercises you can do with little to no equipment. By the way, you can MacGyver some equipment, but things such as push-ups, planks, squats, lunges, etc. just require you. To add an aerobic element you can jump rope, run in place, run or even walk stairs. No stairs? Use the Harvard step test (it’s a thing, look it up). A half hour of this will give you enough for the most important benefits of exercise and bridge the gap to when you will again be free to run.