Buzz
Sometimes I wish I had experienced the early days of jogging, when all you needed was an earth-toned sweatsuit and the freedom to run until you felt like stopping. Today, running in 2020 is all about Strava, Garmin, apps, and stats. Even the most beginner-friendly way of learning to run is structured: intervals of walking and running, gradually building up until you're able to complete a 5K race.
But none of that is truly necessary. You've always had the freedom to run at whatever pace or distance you choose. Your speed is only important if you have a race time goal, and even then, most of your training should simply focus on being on your feet in a way that feels comfortable for you. (Let's face it, we're probably all running too fast because we’re fixated on pace. It’s better to just slow down.)
I've done my share of races, but now I mainly run for the health benefits and because, well, why not? I don't stress about app stats; most of the time, I don’t track anything at all. So when I saw exercise physiologist Georgie Thomas coin this laid-back approach as 'intuitive running,' it felt like a flashback to my own way of doing things.
It’s an anti-hack: it improves your life by stripping away the rules you thought were helping. Just get out there and move your body on foot without obsessing over speed, pace, or whether you're doing it 'right.'
While it's useful to develop a consistent (slow) pace, that’s a skill you'll naturally acquire over time. Learning to relax and actually enjoy running is another skill that takes practice. It's okay if running feels tough at first, but you still deserve the experience—and possibly even the joy—that comes with it.
Follow Thomas' advice: if running starts to feel like torture, go ahead and stop when it becomes too much. Walk until you’re ready to run again. Run until it feels like it's time to walk.
Over time, you might find yourself creating a natural flow between the two. Or, you may find that you enjoy alternating extremes—running as fast as possible and walking as slowly as you can. And that's perfectly fine. Try it out—leave your Fitbit behind, use your phone for music (if necessary)—and see if the road or trail feels more inviting when there’s nothing to track and nothing to prove.
