What I Learned from my Running Mistakes

Yes, this is the first post for a long time about running. I became quite about this topic, but now I try to slowly get back into this activity. In 2017 I was a running freak. I ran every day for a whole month and also preached about running a lot. Everybody should try it and do morning runs, was my mantra back then. The YouTubers I watched and podcasters I listened, as well as writers whose stories I read (all about motivation, self improvement, success etc.), had a huge impact on me.

Running was a great way for myself to turn of my head and just do something. The time was difficult and I needed something to focus on to keep going on. It was a perfect alternative (next to my daily writing) that got me distracted from the rest of my life.

But I did too much, too fast. I didn’t really gave my body the time needed. I ran everyday, my muscles adopted, but my tendons and ligaments didn’t as fast. So as a result, one day I felt pain in my knee and that more or less ended my excessive running. Since then, my knee starts hurting very fast, if I’m not careful enough.

After I recovered, I started running again last year, but not that extreme. I ran every few days and took part in a 5 km competition. But I always needed to be careful, so that my knee doesn’t start hurting again.

When I discovered bodyweight training using the Runtastic Results app, I started training with my body instead of running, because it helped me getting more fit overall. I also changed my nutrition and got a few extra kilos (probably muscles).

Today I ran again, after doing it in July one time and before that some months not at all. But I hope, that I learned from my mistakes. I won’t start directly with running 7 or 10 kilometers. 4 are enough at the beginning and I need to make sure to not increase the distance by more than 5 percent every week (when I run twice a week). I also take a bandage around my knee to keep it stabilized, so far that helped and my knee didn’t hurt. During runs I will also not listen to music, to better focus on the running technique and also noticing body signs earlier.

Currently, my running conditions are very bad. I’m very slow and feel very exhausted after just 4 kilometers, a distance I did every morning before going to work, in the autumn of 2017. But part of the learnings is, that it’s ok to have bad conditions in the beginning. With every run they are getting a little better, but increase the distance and speed only slowly, so that the whole body can adopt.

I hope that when I get back to regular running and also doing bodyweight training every few days, I feel the positive effects again. Doing sports and running not only helps with getting muscles and fitness, it also has a very positive effect on the mind. It helps a lot with reducing stress and the next months will probably get very stressful.

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