Does Running Get Easier?

Running is hard! Especially if we’re just beginning as a runner, or returning after a break. It means that each time we put on our running shoes, we feel like it’s going to be a challenge. 

But does running get easier? How long does it take until running feels easy? 

JUST START

In the first few weeks of learning a language or instrument, or taking up something creative like painting or pottery, we’re not very good at those things.

It’s hard, we make mistakes, we can’t seem to pick it up, and we see other people doing it without any difficulties, and that can be frustrating. It can also make us want to give up. How do we improve at them? We just keep on doing them.

For running, the best thing you can do to begin with is to be as consistent as possible. Try to run three times per week. It doesn’t matter how far, it doesn’t matter how fast (top tip: slow down, it’ll feel easier), it only matters that you start, and that you run regularly. If you want to walk on some of your runs, or to use a run-walk method, then that’s absolutely fine. 

If you only run once every two weeks then it’s going to be really difficult to improve because each time you’re essentially going back to the beginning.

So just start running!

WHY AM I BAD AT RUNNING?

You are not bad at running! 

It’s possible to be bad at playing a violin or bad at speaking Spanish, but running is something that humans are naturally born to do. You might not yet feel like you’re great at running, or be comfortable when running, but you definitely aren’t bad at it. 

Be patient and be consistent. Run a few times a week, and within a month or two you’ll be much more comfortable when running.

DON’T FEEL LIKE A RUNNER?

When you begin you might not feel like a runner, or you might be self-conscious. But what does a runner look like?

If you’re feeling self-aware or unsure about beginning as a runner, then head along to your local parkrun, or see if there’s a local race near to you. You don’t need to take part, but go along and see who is taking part. You’ll see a huge range of people of different ages and different current abilities. There is no single idea of what a runner looks like. If you run, you’re a runner.

WHY DOES RUNNING FEEL HARD TO BEGIN WITH? 

Running feels hard because it is hard, and a lot of things physically happen to your body when you run, as we look at in this video.

As your heart rate goes up, so does your breathing. New runners often obsess about their breathing, and that can make them breathe in an unnatural way, all while trying to coordinate legs and arms and move forward, and it can feel like too much going on – and part of the problem is that you’re having to actually think about running. 

We can all run, but sometimes we need to find ways to distract ourselves so that we can just let our body get on with it. 

Listen to music or a podcast when you run. Find a friend to run with so that you can talk with them instead of thinking about running. Find a friendly local running club to run with. By finding distractions you’ll soon realise that you’re running more naturally. 

DON’T DO TOO MUCH, TOO SOON

Be consistent and gradually increase the amount that you run. If you try to run too far or too quickly then that’s going to feel much more difficult for you. It may also lead to overuse injuries, which then really makes running feel harder. 

Focus on running a few times a week. Learn what pace feels natural to you, learn how your breathing and heart rate should feel on an easy run, and don’t worry about trying to go further or faster yet.

As you feel more confident and comfortable as a runner then you could try to gradually increase your distance (but stick to around a 10% increase each week) and also to begin to try some faster running.

PRACTISE, PRACTISE, PRACTISE 

The best way to improve as a runner is to run more often. Effectively we’re practising to run.

We have driving lessons, piano lessons, tennis lessons, but not many of us have running lessons, or even think about running as something to learn. 

By being more consistent as a runner, we naturally learn how to do it better. You can also practise different running skills. Try running uphill, which can improve your running form. Try running on the trails, which helps you be more versatile. Try running a few fast strides. Try doing some drills to help work on your form (as Sarah and Andy show below).

We only improve by actually doing something releatedly, and trying out new things to progress our ability.

RUNNING HARD MAKES RUNNING SLOW FEEL EASIER

One of the easiest ways to improve as a runner is to do short bursts of fast running. 

You’ll be surprised at how your form naturally changes and improves when you run quickly. Your feet move faster, you stand more upright, and you drive your arms and knees in a very natural way. 

By running short strides you get into the best running form, and you can take that form and use it when you’re running slower. 

Then if you begin to run slightly longer intervals or short tempo sessions, those hard runs make the slower runs feel easier.

RUN FURTHER, FEEL BETTER?

This may sound counter-intuitive, especially if you’re finding running to be a struggle, but perhaps the secret to making running feel better is to run for longer.

Ask any more experienced runner and something seems to happen around 30-40 minutes into any run and they start to feel good. 

This is likely down to the brain releasing feel-good chemicals, the same ones which give us the runner’s high. The brain releases endorphins when we run, which can help us to feel good, though an increase in endocannabinoids is more likely the reason for this high.

Endocannabinoids reduce pain, reduce anxiety (and feelings like ‘I hate running!’) and generally make us feel happier. At the end of the run, we can get more of those good feels, which hopefully encourages us to run again soon.  

But those neurotransmitters take a while to accumulate, which is why we don’t feel wonderful from the first few steps. But stick with it and after around 30 minutes you may start to feel good.

STAY POSITIVE

Running is a physical activity, but the way you feel about it psychologically can have a big impact. If we start a run knowing that we’re going to feel great afterwards, then it’s very different to starting with the anticipation of a challenge that we might not enjoy it.

Find ways to stay positive about running. Tell yourself that you’ll feel so much better once you’ve done the run. Find things to motivate you on a run, like enjoying being outside in nature, or being disconnected from devices and away from work. 

HOLD ON… BECAUSE RUNNING DOESN’T REALLY GET EASIER

Yep, sorry. You’ve read this far only to discover the reality that running doesn’t actually get easier. 

Sure, the motions and mechanics of running feel easier. You feel more positive about running a few times a week. You have more control in how fast and how far you want to run. And you actually like doing it.

But for a lot of runners, as they run more often, they try to run longer distances, or they try to get faster over distances they are already comfortable with.

We step up from the 10k to the half marathon, then to the marathon. We target a faster 10k, then we set a goal for the half marathon. And it’s hard work to train for those progressions.

The difference now is that we’ve come to like running and see the value that it can add to our lives, both physically and psychologically. Running just makes us feel good. And maybe that seems a long way away if you’re just starting out, but it does happen.