Today, I completed a long run outside for the first time. I have been training for my first half marathon, but have solely relied on the treadmill. It’s been great, I find myself bettering my times and improving my endurance. However, with the race approaching, I knew that it was time that I get outside. Additionally, the treadmill is great for short runs, but after a while it gets overstimulating and boring-at the same time.
I knew that it was time that I get outside. Professional runners on social media and Reddit forums advise running outside often to train, because running outside exceeds the treadmill in difficulty. I knew that in order for me to feel physically prepared for my run, and know what to expect, I needed to spend more time running outside. I needed my body to know what to expect on race day (specifically my knees), with different pavements, with varying elevations, and impacts.
Right away, things were different. Here are some things I noticed.
Water Placement
Have a water bottle that fits in your vest!! I underestimated the difficulty that having a vest and holding items is. On the treadmill, I have places to place my water and gels. But outside, I had to hold on to these things. I realized that this SUCKS. It was hard to begin the run and get into rhythm while simultaneously holding my water bottles.
Though after a while, I got used to it and ignored the annoying sensation, I will not be doing this again!!. I will be getting a smaller water bottle that I can fit in my vest.
Pacing
Honestly, this was the hardest thing for me. I can make a whole post on this alone. I struggled a lot to pace myself. On the treadmill, the pace is set for you, and it is up to you to just keep up. But, you luckily have the security of the treadmill, maintaining that consistent pace for you and you can also adjust to find what is comfortable and stick to it. The mental work of pacing yourself is done for you.
Outside though, this major security blanket is gone. Not only do you have to push yourself, run, and maintain good form, but you also have to concentrate on pacing. Even with my watch, I still could not find my desired pace. When I wanted to go faster, I had to reduce speed early because I felt too overworked and tired. When I wanted to slow down my pace, I was too slow at times, and consequently, had to speed up again.
Each mile through my 13 miles was a different pace, which frustrated me. I even tried consciously counting my steps at certain rates, to keep manually finding a consistent pace but that did not work. My mind was too busy and tired to focus on such miniscule details. This is something I will have to work on, and improve.
Affirmations
Since this was my first long run outdoors, I knew that I needed to train my mind to push through the run. I needed my mind to be SET on completing the run no matter what. To deal with this, I gave myself routine affirmations during my run.
When I would reach a milestone, I told myself things like “you are amazing” “you’re doing great” “Halfway there, you got it”. This sounds corny, but it absolutely works. When doing something hard, you will have all the negative voices in your head. They’ll be telling you unmotivating lies, that this is not who you are, this is too hard for you. You’ll be tempted to stop and may easily believe that the run is too difficult and not for you.
BUT it is also up to you to ignore those voices and feed your mind new and more positive voices. As a beginner runner, these thoughts plague my mind a lot, and I realized that I can combat them with my affirmations. It takes time, but with discipline and practice you can train yourself to feed your mind healthy language instead of negative ones.
Dynamic Playlisting
One thing that surprisingly helped me during this run was running with frequently changing music. I started with one genre, then decided I would change the playlist when I felt my energy changing. At the beginning, because I was going slower, I played upbeat but still lowkey RNB and neo soul. Some examples of some music that played were Mac Keane, Bryson Tiller, Goldlink, Jordan Ward, Joyce Wrice, and Kwn. These songs are on my daily rotation, so the lowkey and familiar vibes were great for helping me start my run.
These vibes played until about mile 3 or 4, when I felt I needed a tempo switch. I decided to amp up my music, increasing my beats per minute, to start Afrobeats. I have a playlist I titled Afrobeats but Mellow, which is exactly what the name entails-afrobeats but mellow. The songs there still have the rhythms and drums of OG afrobeats, but just with softer voices and themes. Though lower in tone, the songs have high enough beats to keep my energy up, while still focusing.
Once I felt I reached the much anticipated and desired runners high, at about mile 8, I went to all of my high energy, high tempo, fast music. From Afrobeats like the HEIS Rema album, Raggaeton like the likes of Bad Bunny and Tokischa, to dancehall vibes like Shenseea, Moliy, and Vybez Kartel. These songs are my favorite to listen to in general, so during such a long run it felt amazing. I was so energized and motivated by the ambiance of the natural surroundings and the tempos of the music that I pushed through the run with so much power and drive.
The music also served to distract my mind and kept me busy when the run felt difficult. I also hate running and getting bored of my music. So this process of dynamic playlisting was such a cheat code. I definitely recommend listening to music that you like, but also changing it up while running so that you’re still engaged and distracting your mind with SOMETHING. Running is a mental thing, so finding ways to occupy your mind like music is vital to getting through these runs.
I will add these playlist links below if you want to try them out!
EAT DURING YOUR RUN.
Thats all I have to say.
Running outside vs Treadmill Recap
I would 100% choose outside running to the treadmill any day. Besides the stress of pacing and storage, it is so much more liberating on the mind. You have so much more room and freedom with your movement and being outdoors gives your mind time to wander which is perfect for difficult and long runs. As the weather improves, I will for sure be incorporating more runs outside into my cardio routine.
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