A Slow First Run

Getting back into running has been a slow but joyous process. Yesterday was my third run in recent weeks, and I decided to take a different approach in my training.

I use the Nike Run Club app to keep track of all my runs. While I was perusing the app, I stumbled across a 4-week training plan. One thing about me is that I love to build schedules around my goals. I love breaking them down into digestible steps that ultimately help me accomplish what I set out to do. The minute I saw this training plan, I was sold.

I woke up bright and early yesterday, got my running gear on, and headed out into the glorious spring weather. The first run was a 20-minute guided recovery run. A guided run basically means having the voice of a Nike coach talking to you throughout your run. I’m usually extremely picky about what I listen to because it can either make or break the tone of my run. But since I wanted to do this training the right way, I decided to let the guided run play over my music.

I welcomed the voice of the Nike Running Global Head Coach, Chris Bennett through my wireless headphones. He started off by emphasizing that the tone of this run is easy and slow. The goal was to pace yourself and be in control of your breath. Initially, I could feel my body craving to run faster. Typically, I measure my runs by my per-mile time or by how many miles I’d end up running. This run was extremely different because the emphasis was on placed on my comfortability. One thing that Coach Bennett said that struck me was, “sometimes you have to go slow, to go fast.”

I resonated with what that statement so strongly. And not just in the case of running but in life. We get caught up in thinking faster is better, hustle more, grind harder. What about moving slowly with intention, taking deep breaths, or just feeling good in the process? I began to look at my journey back into running with a different perspective. The only way to run fast is to first run slow.