Hi guys! Been a while 🫶🏽
When I first started running, I was overwhelmed by the amount of things I didn’t know about the sport. I relied heavily on research and lived experience—often in the form of “failures”—to better understand how to train. I’ve kept a running list of these lessons so I don’t drift too far from the basics, and wanted to share this insight, in hopes that it makes training feel more approachable.
This list is far from exhaustive—just a collection of lessons I’ve found widely valuable.
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Tip 1: Know your body.
I can’t stress this enough, which is why it’s listed first.
Trick:
Listen to your body—both at rest and while running. Any soreness, aches, or pains? More or less fatigued than usual? How does your stride feel—smooth, flat, somewhere in between? Are you comfortable? Are you happy?
If you run with headphones, try training without them occasionally (or pause your music for a few minutes) so you can check in more honestly.
Document what you notice daily—patterns will emerge, and those patterns should guide your training forward.
Tip 2: The best training embraces your life—it doesn’t uproot it.
Trick:
Your lifestyle, environment, and current health should dictate your training—not just your goals.
Be flexible. If you hate running in the rain, use the treadmill or push the session. If going out on weekends makes you happiest, don’t miss out! If you dread waking up early to run, find another time.
You don’t have to make running your entire personality in order to improve in the sport.
The happier you are, the more consistent you’ll be—and consistency is everything in running.
Tip 3: Consistency requires honesty.
Trick:
Before every workout,†ask yourself: (1) How am I feeling? And (2) what are the conditions today?
My coach always starts our sessions with, “How're you doing?” and if he’s not physically there with me, “How’s the weather?”. Neither are formalities; he adjusts my workout based on those answers, which is why I often don’t know the set until right before I start.
The most valuable information you can give yourself, and your coach, is honesty—especially when it’s negative.
Neglecting your condition and the conditions only hurts your potential to improve.
Tip 4: Fitness isn’t gained by doing the work; it’s gained by recovering from the work.
Trick:
Whenever you’re unsure which of two training sessions to complete, do the less demanding one. For me, this might look like pushing a workout to the following day and opting for an easy run instead.
Try to allow at least two days between hard efforts, as fatigue often peaks with a delay.
If you’re unsure whether your body’s recovered enough for a workout, it’s not.
Tip 5: Easy is a feeling—not a pace, not a “zone”, not a metric.
Trick:
The pace or heart rate at which you find this effort will vary from day to day—not just from your training load, but from lifestyle factors, weather, terrain, etc.
To help you stay honest, try:
- Running on slower surfaces, like a trail.
- Running somewhere secluded (in lieu of high traffic areas) so you don’t feel pressured, even subconsciously, to speed up.
- Running without a watch so that you learn to disassociate metrics from feelings.
- Running with someone that trains slower than you.
If a training buddy or club runs too fast for you, slow down, and don’t ever apologize for it. Anyone who knows anything about running will respect it!
On easy days, you can never run too easy—but you can always run too hard.
Tip 6: Your training doesn’t need to be flashy—it just needs to be consistent.
Trick:
Avoid overreaching. It often leads to injury or failed training sessions, both of which disrupt consistency.
If you coach yourself, try adjusting only one training variable (duration, intensity, or frequency) for a period of time.
For context:
In my first race—the 2021 Richmond Marathon—I ran a 2:49:02 for third female overall. I followed essentially the same schedule every week for 14 weeks (not because I knew what I was doing—I just lacked creativity, lol).
- Monday: rest day
- Tuesday: 3-5x mile repeats
- Wednesday: 10mi easy
- Thursday: 10k easy
- Friday: 5-8mi tempo @ goal marathon pace
- Saturday: 10k easy
- Sunday: 15-23mi progressive long run
The structure never changed. The only variable adjusted was duration—adding reps, extending tempos, or lengthening long runs as I got fitter, and reducing them as a got closer to race day.
It wasn’t flashy, but it sure was consistent—and because of that, it worked.
Tip 7: Increasing mileage can build fitness—but it can also build risk of injury.
Trick:
Increase weekly mileage by no more than ~10%. Your aerobic system adapts faster than your musculoskeletal system, so this gives your body time to catch up.
Another lesser-known trick: don’t increase your long run by more than 1-2 miles from one week to the next.
Small, controlled increases now prevent big setbacks later.
Tip 8: 90% of races are lost in the first half of the race.
Trick:
Aim to negative split the halves of whatever distance you’re racing.
You can always run too fast at the beginning of a race, but you can never run too fast at the end of a race.
Trust your gameplay and be patient as the game plays out.
Tip 9: Marathoners—your stomach is a muscle too. Train it.
Trick:
Use long runs to simulate race day—eat the same breakfast, drink the same fluids, and take in the same nutrition as you would during the race.
Instead of fueling by distance, fuel by time to mimic race conditions more closely. This way your gut will be properly trained to digest fuel at the same intervals you will be on race day. Since your stomach may operate differently at faster paces, practice fueling at marathon pace too.
Your fitness sets the ceiling—your fueling dictates how close you get to it.
Tip 10: Pain between your foot and your hip are usually because of your foot or your hip.
Trick:
Other than staying consistent with strength work and regular physio, increasing your cadence (steps per minute) can offload stress. Aim for ~180 steps per minute. Most watches track this, but you can also measure it manually by counting one foot strike for 15 seconds and multiplying by 8.‡
Increasing your shoe rotation is another good way to stay healthy. Depending on your training demands, aim to keep two or more pairs in rotation at all times (I keep four).
Think of your shoes as the tires on a car. Rotating footwear is analogous to getting your tires rotated; buying new ones is analogous to replacing old tires.
Tip 11: Symmetry in strength matters more than raw strength.
Trick:
Running is a single-leg sport—you’re never on both feet at once. That’s why balanced, unilateral strength is critical.
Start all single-leg exercises with your weaker side. When your form begins to slip, stop and match that number of reps on your stronger side. Over time, the gap will close as your weaker side gains strength.
This isn’t holding your strong side back—it’s giving your weaker side the chance to catch up.
Think of a dented soda can: when you crush it, it collapses at the weak point. Your body works the same way. Weakness on one side forces compensation from the other—eventually that “strong” side breaks down.
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Remember—you know your body better than anyone else. Above all, listen to it (tip no. 1!) over my words. This list isn’t a roadmap to success; just guardrails to keep you moving forward. If you’re reading this, it’s indication enough you’re well on your way.
Go get it!
Sophie
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Footnotes:
†In distance running, “workouts” refer to structured quality sessions, such as intervals, tempo runs, or threshold efforts. All other runs are generally considered “easy,” “maintenance/base,” “distance,” or “recovery,” terms often used interchangeably.
‡This method estimates total cadence: count one foot for 15 seconds, multiply by 4 to scale to one minute, then double it to account for both feet (4 × 2 = 8).
