Slow learner

Sometimes you know a thing and there is no doubt that it is correct, but it still takes you a long time to do anything about it.

Hmmm, I think that is suitably cryptic.

The thing that I know is that it is a good idea to change up the surfaces that you run on. It is a proven way to reduce injury. Another thing that I know is that it is a good idea to run in a variety of different shoes etc. This helps build strength further reducing injury.

These are things that I know, but are also things that haven't really done anything about. And frustratingly I don't really have any good reason for not. Plus I have many good reasons that I should, namely a number of running related injuries.

Here is the logic that my brain follows when I consider running on mixed surfaces. I want to run fast, I run slower on some softer surfaces. Therefore, I don't want to run on the softer surfaces. Now I realise that this isn't logical. Yes the surfaces might be slower, but it doesn't mean you aren't working just as hard, which in the end is the important thing. Plus if the softer surfaces mean that you can run for more than a couple of months at a time without injury, then in the long run it will make you quicker. I know all this, but I still don't do it.

My reason for not swapping out shoe types just comes back to laziness.

Today, I made an effort to start changing the above. I didn't run in different shoes, but I did run somewhere new (one change at a time is a good idea). I work near a massive park (think Central Park in New York style massive) in the city called King's Park. King's Park is designed around letting you get out and about. It is full of tracks, paths, roads and trails. It has a labyrinth of them. I have run there before, but I haven't for a while, since it is also full of hills and the runs tend to be slow ones and as I covered above, I have an unhealthy fixation on pace. Today's run included a bunch of high intensity efforts, just like it was supposed to. Some of those efforts I judged by pace, but others, like when I was going up a massive hill, I judged just by heart rate. The session also included sections of running on grass and trails as well as bitumen and concrete. It was a session full of variety and because of that, it was a pretty good one.

Still a long way to go. But today was a good first step in putting some of what I have known for a long time into practice. Better late than never.