This fourth blog post will consist of three separate aspects of a training regimen that will help an active trainee go about creating a healthy training program.  In this session, I will cover three components of the training/ running process that most people overlook while running.  I will first cover some tips when encountering hills during the run, followed by tips on breathing during long-distance runs, concluding with what type of music one should listen to while running.

During a rather lengthy run, have you ever encountered a rather lengthy hill approximately a half mile away and purposefully avoided it?  I’m here to tell you to take on that hill with confidence.  The following list may help you with the next hill that you encounter:

  1. When running uphill, look down at your feet. This will help with the psychological factor of taking on a steep hill to provide confidence going forward.  Make sure you still know the direction you have to run, but keep your head down, and take on that hill.
  2. When running downhill, make sure you pace yourself. It is easy to forget that you are running faster than the pace time that is set.  This will preserve energy and keep you relaxed coming out of the hill.
  3. Tackle as many hills as you can. This will help with leg strength and keep you on your feet on race day.

Breathing may become difficult coming in and out of large hills.  This short excerpt will explain a few healthy tips on how to maintain healthy breathing.  The most important aspect to breathing (aside from forgetting to breath in general) is to create a rhythm for your breathing that corresponds with how you run. This will help with reducing chest pains from over-breathing and will provide a healthier endurance. Aside from this, if you are experiencing chest/lung pains from lack of air, take five to ten seconds to quickly recover.  No run is worth passing or blacking out over lack of proper air intake.  Stay health conscious out there!

Finally, one of my favorite components to running is finding a great playlist to listen to while on the run.  The one main tip I can give you, is regardless of the genre of the music that you enjoy listening to, is to find an up-beat playlist that allows you to pace yourself.  Using the music to pace your footsteps can be a crucial aspect to maintaining a constant flow of breathing to movement.  As mentioned, it doesn’t matter what genre you listen to, as long as you are comfortable while running.


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