The Runner's Mind – Pt II

People often confuse the words pressure and stress in terms of how we feel as humans.  Outside influences put pressure on us and it creates stress within us.  How we handle the stress goes a long way on how we react to everything.

As runners, we get a lot of pressure from family, work, school, the environment, other runners, coaches…..   These other people are making you do things that you may not want to do – and in your private time!  We can be completely prepared for our event or race – and we are not thinking about it at all.  In other words, we have already lost…or we are not prepared for the physical few next minutes of our time.  So we don’t PR, we don’t feel well, we are not happy with our results…

Why so much pressure?  Why cause ourselves stress – and over a sport?  Over running? Come on – the reason we should be out there every day and with our teammates and friends is because it is FUN.  Running is not a job for 99.99% of us.  Maybe elite marathoners or world champion 400m intermediate hurdlers are no longer having fun – but we should.

Find a happy balance in your running.  A lady just told me just yesterday that she only likes running with music.  I like running with as many people as possible.  Run in the day, when the sun makes people happier.  Run with your kids – that is always a treat.  I have been blessed to run with my daughter several times since she started cross country in high school last year. Run with your small kids in a running stroller.

In the end, relaxing may be hard, but a race is a race.  There are more to come.  if you are worried about your PR and you have been close, run several of the same race and you will have more chances to get it!

Pressure and stress – does not have to get you….

Happy Running

#running #runningtips #stress #pressure #fun #team #NCRC

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Nickolas Joannidis
Nickolas Joannidis
I have been running for over 35 years, having done practically every possible racing event or distance from the 100 meters through the marathon. I competed in varsity high school cross country and track at Saddle Brook High School in the mid-1980's, varsity cross country and track at Division II Pace University and finished well over 200 road races since then, including 20 marathons with a lifetime best of 3:14:50. I was the president of the Hoffmann LaRoche corporate running team for 7 years, growing the team from 25 to over 90 during his tenure. I coached many of these runners to achieve their goals, whether they were beginners or advanced. In 2011 I was an assistant coach for the Fair Lawn Recreation track team, helping the 10 to 14 year old group. I am currently personally coaching dozens of runners, from beginner levels to advanced levels and getting them to be prepared to meet their goals.

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