Saturday, March 31, 2018

How To Know If You're Successful As a Runner

Success as a runner – like runners – comes in a variety of shapes, sizes and speeds. 

Some measure success by:

  • speed or pace - a faster 5km, a quicker mile, a PB (personal best)
  • more distance - completing a longer race, maintaining a speed over more distance
  • comparisons:
    •  importantly, by comparing your own progress
    • with gender and age-group
    • with training partners, work-mates or family and friends
    • with a race of the same distance, in the same conditions
    • with the same race the week, more or year before
  • numbers - statistics, data, charts, graphs and tables
  •  gadgets
Some measure their success by feel, perception and sense; and, through and by common-sense.

Some measure success by finishing medals, places and results others by having the courage to begin.

Some perceive success as survival; others longevity, sustainability, or performance.

The runner young in years often sees success through comparison to others.  To those wiser it comes through self reflection and introspection. Numbers can lie. The mirror does not.

How YOU measure your success will depend upon:
  • how long you've been running for: 
    • newbies and novices it can be as simple as beginning to run, or running for 2-3 weeks, or running their first continuous 1km, mile or 5km (without stopping or walking)
    • those running for 2-5 years it can be in distance, speed, course type, or accumulated sessions or days (ie. a streak), kms/miles 
    • running beyond 5 years, and the rapid improvements have slowed, running success is now measured in maturity - how you think about what you do, what you do about it, how you seek advice, and further progress, and your approach to progress over time not all time
  • what you think being a better runner is -your perceptions, beliefs and biasses
  • how your experiences of, by and through running and the reasons why you continue (to run) change, morph, materialise, crystallise and help you self-actualise
To some the success appears to come by, through and running with others. 

Ultimately, your success as a runner comes from you - your expectations, your choices, beliefs and, most importantly, your actions. 

How much of that success you experience, and others see, is your ultimate running journey.

To me, you're successful as a runner if you're (still) on the runner's journey, and are learning more about yourself as a runner, as an athlete and as a person. 

And that each step, like the very first steps you took, gets you a step closer to your own "better place".

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