Photo: Runners / Stock.Xchng

Runners face a variety of fears during their running careers. There’s the constant concern about injuries, the fear of hills, the fear of falling behind or coming last in a race, the fear of ‘hitting the wall’ or falling off the treadmill when training. Other problems faced by runners include very real issues like a resistant family, blisters from new shoes and not being able to finish a race. Read on for some tips that will help you run right through the problem.

Avoid injuries by being gentle with yourself

If you’re scared of injury, don’t feel alone because the majority of your fellow runners have the same fear. You can prevent injuries by following the ‘ten per cent rule’ which states that a runner should only increase weekly mileage by 10 per cent. Speedwork, long runs and tempo runs should be separated by 48 hours. Cross training, easy runs and rest days are permitted in-between.

Since there is no evidence to prove that running more than 70 kilometres a week improves non-elite runners’ performance, why push yourself so hard? Especially considering the evidence that shows it can increase one’s risk of injury. Adopt the correct running technique, replace your shoes every 800 km and run on soft surfaces to decrease the odds.

Re-think your fear of hills

Studies have shown that people overestimate how steep hills really are. What may look like a monster hill may be about 18 degrees less steep than you think it is. Keep it in mind that hills normally make up a small percentage of the distance of a run. Running hills for time rather than distance can also help. That way, you’ll know how long you’ll be in pain for. Don’t settle for the path of least resistance: run with the hills.

Falling off the treadmill

Falling off the treadmill can lead to serious injury. At worst you may save yourself a little embarrassment by looking straight ahead when you run. Refrain from watching television and leave your cell phone in the locker room. Check where your feet are positioned on the belt every so often.

Before you begin your run on the treadmill, check to see where the ‘stop’ button is. If you do feel yourself falling, hit it.

Falling behind or coming last

Try to stay with your group by refusing to allow yourself to fall more than three strides behind. But if your body is tired, give yourself some recovery time so that you’re not faced with stiffness and fatigue when you’re running with buddies who are in the same shape as you are.

Don’t be afraid of coming last. Even if you do come last, think of it this way, someone had to do it! And besides, you still beat all those who dropped out and didn’t finish the race at all. Never mind those who didn’t even turn up at the starting line.

Tags: anxiety, exercise, running