The First Hard Lesson I Had to Learn in Running

by Jack Gray

There are many lessons to be learned in running. Some are very simple, other, self-evident, adn still others profound. Some we lear very quickly; and some we never learn at all. Yet, our success in running depends to a great extent on how well we learn these lessons. Do you remember which lesson was hardest for you? Do you recall which came first?

1. THERE IS THE LESSON OF CONSISTANCY. It is so important to learn just to stay with it. In good times and bad. In all kinds of weather. When you are fully motivated and when you are not. Just work out a good training plan; and then stay with the plan. This is a great problem, especially for the beginners. So we have to learn that on-again and off-again is not going to get the job done. We have to be consistant in our effort. This is a vital lesson; but it may not be the first.

2. THERE IS THE CHALLENGE OF PACING. More good races are blown by going out too fast than any other one thin. Pacing becomes all the more imperative as you change distances. You simply can't run a 10K the same way you do a 5K, or any other distance. You have to make mental adjustments, and run accordingly. It would be hard to over-emphasize the importance of pacing in good running; but it is important only in it's proper place.

3. THERE IS THE VIRTUE OF PATIENCE. We all embrace it in theory; but we are not good at practicing it. Runners are notoriously impatient. We cut corners in our training and try to make progress too fast. We rush back from injury; and wind up injured again. We don't want to allow proper recovery time. We want to run farther and faster every time we go out. Many of our problems come from impatience. We can accomplish almost anything if we really have patience; and we are almost sure to get in trouble if we don't. Admittedly, it is a lesson that most of use have not learned very well

4. LEARN TO RUN YOUR OWN RACE. It takes special care not to be drawn out by others. A competitor goes by and you feel that you have to respond immediately. This may put you on a pace that you cannot maintain. While if you will study your own running, you will lear both your strengths and your weeknesses. You may learn that you have a stronger finish than your competitors or that you run better at certain points in a race. Make your plans based on your own abilities, then follow your own plan. It will give you your best chance of having a good race.

These, and lots of other lessons, are out there. We must learn them all as best we can. Any one of them, in it's own place, may be the most important you have ever learned. But I didn't ask which was the most important. I asked which, in your experience, came first?

Naturally, I don't know which was first for you, but I vividly remember the first hard lesson for me. Could you even guess what it was?

My first hard lesson was simply that I could hurt that bad and not die! I know it sounds somewhat facetious, and perhaps it is a little; but the first time I got in trouble running, I thought it was all over! I felt sure I had better stop quick or I would be a goner! I wondered how anyone could continue. I wondered WHY anyone would WANT to continue. How it would be possible for anyone to endure long runs?

My lesson, therefore, was: "This is not going to kill me. It is not even life-threatening." I even learned that what I was experiencing was not real pain. It was only discomfort...and it would get better rather than worse if I would continue.

Your first big lesson may have been different from mine; but I feel sure you can still recall exactly what it was. Because when you learned it, you had the immediate feeling: "I can do this...I can endure...I can get better, because I have passed my first real test in becoming a runner." Hopefully, it will never really be that hard again. So remember the lessons you have learned...and let them open the door for greater things. Just keep running!