The long run

Sometime in 2020, in the thick of the pandemic, I went from not being able to run even a mile without complete exhaustion and extreme pain in my shins and knees to almost overnight being able to run over four miles comfortably with minimal pain whatsoever. This post is about chronicling the lessons that led to this breakthrough in the hopes that they may benefit others, especially beginner runners. The disclaimer is that these are subjective learnings whose scientific basis I haven’t tried to verify too much. Nevertheless, their impact has been substantial for me. 


There are two main takeaways:




To me, these two were the crucial factors that led to my transformation. But by no means are these the only factors. Unless your running muscles are conditioned well (both hips and legs), it would be difficult to fully leverage point 1, e.g., weak leg muscles may not provide the necessary support and stability, leading to injury and pain. Slowly ramping up the duration of the run and cross-training can help condition the muscles over time for more efficient and pain-free runs. 


Incidentally, very similar learnings led to a major breakthrough in my swimming as well, where I almost overnight went from being completely exhausted after a single lap to being able to swim for 30-40 minutes continuously. In this case, the mental game, where I increased my focus on being comfortable in the moment, was even more crucial. But that is for a different post.