Playing the long game...

In a world of instant gratification and 'life hacks', running stubbornly bucks the trend. There is no quick fix, no magic 6-week plan, no short-cut to success. Improvement has to be earned, and it can only be earned through hard work and consistency. This may put people off and you can see why. We are no longer conditioned to want to wait for anything. If we invest our time in something we want results NOW, not in several months time. But I actually wonder whether this is part of the appeal of running. Does it engage something deep in our subconscious? Perhaps an innate need for long-term effort and reward rather than an instant hit that, in reality, means a lot less?

When it comes to running, nothing epitomises this more than the long distances. That's not to say that improvement over the shorter distances is easy - it really isn't! In fact in some ways it is harder as the margins are so much tighter. But with the shorter races you have many more opportunities to test yourself. And while those seconds can be frustratingly difficult to shave off, there is usually another race around the corner. The dangling carrot is never far away. Marathons, however, are another matter entirely. The build up is intense and taxing and most non-elite athletes can only work towards one race a year, maybe two at a push. You are therefore always thinking months, sometimes years ahead when it comes to goal-setting and planning, whilst still doing all the groundwork week-in, week-out in the meantime. And all this while knowing that, even with the best planning and preparation, the hallowed race day might be a disaster for any number of reasons - some of which will be entirely out of your control.

To someone else it is a few seconds, but to you it represents months and years of commitment and dedication.

So what exactly is it that lures us non-elites in? There's (usually) no prize, no fame, no glory. In fact, when we joke that no-one else actually cares, it is essentially true. Aside from the Strava kudos and the odd 'well done', our personal achievements are just that. They are personal to us and we are the only ones who will carry them with us. But maybe that is what makes it special. Only you know how hard you have worked for something and how much of yourself you have invested in it, so when the reward arrives it is only you who can truly appreciate it and celebrate it. To someone else it is a few seconds, but to you it represents months and years of commitment and dedication. When that pays off I honestly believe there is nothing in the world that is more gratifying and quietly empowering.

You have to be prepared to play the long game, though. It's no good turning up on Monday expecting results by Saturday. And it's no good turning up in January expecting results by February. If you are new to running (or new to more structured training) then I think 8 weeks is usually the point where you start to really notice some improvements. However, when it comes to long-term goals they are just that. Long-term. If you seriously want to improve your marathon time, for example, it's not just going to be about the 16-week training plan you implement working up to the event. What is going to count for a lot more is the preparation work you do before that. The gym work, the base fitness work, the consistency over time which will really allow you to adapt to and benefit from the more specific training when it arrives. Rome wasn't built in a day and a marathon PB wasn't won in one either.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and a marathon PB wasn't won in one either.

Maybe the thought of that really doesn't float your boat, and if that's the case then that is absolutely fine. As I've said many times before, you can run without having goals or chasing times. Running for fun, freedom, friendship, fresh air, fitness...all of these still make you a runner, regardless of distance or pace. But if you want it to then running, particularly distance running, offers the chance to claim something back that modern society is trying so hard to take away. No short-cuts, no easy wins, just the simplicity of quietly grafting away and savouring the results, however insignificant they may seem to the rest of the world. Someone once described their running to me as 'a life's work'...what a wonderful way to look at it.