I started running 4 weeks ago. I am enjoying the challenge of each run. It is like a lesson in overcoming adversity every time you go for a run. You start out all confident and strong. After a kilometre or so your legs start to tire and each breath of air becomes more difficult and seems to involve a stinging sensation. Everything within you just wants to stop. You weigh up the pros and cons of continuing and you realise that giving up just makes sense. But you don’t. You make the decision to continue, just until the next hill.
During a run I normally go though a few cycles of pain, tiredness, despair and then a new burst of energy. The key is to push through the pain and tiredness stages and hang on until the next burst of energy. By the time I have completed a run I have gone through 3-4 of these cycles and usually finish running the last 800 metres of so as fast as the first 800 metres. Isn’t it amazing what you can do when the finish line is in sight.
At the end of the run you feel like you have gone through the same emotions of starting a business, getting married, starting a new job or trying to achieve any other major life goal, all condensed into a 30 minute period.
Today I used an iPhone app called RunKeeper for the first time. This app tracks the route you run using the GPS built into the iPhone. It also calculates:
- The amount of calories you burn
- Your average time it takes to run one kilometre
- You average speed
- The distance you have run
- The total time of your run
I found that looking at the stats on my iPhone as I was running very motivating. It gave me something to compete against instead of the little boy in my head telling me to stop. I knocked about 2.5 minutes off my run from the last time I timed myself.
RunKeeper can also uploads the stats of your run to Facebook and Twitter including a message saying you have completed a run. It provides a community around the software, so you can link up with other runners in your area to run together. You can also see what routes other runners are completing so you can try them out for yourself.
So yes, I think this iPhone app definitely made me run faster, although a running partner would be more fulfilling, but until I find one I won’t leave for a run without my iPhone.
