Running Lessons Learned In 2016

Since this was the first full year of running in a long time, I thought it would be good to reflect back and call out some of the running lessons I learned in 2016.

1. Respect the easy run days
• Not every run should have the focus on speed. For my easy run days, I run 1:30-2:30 minutes slower than my goal mile pace. This helps keep me fresh for intervals, tempo runs, and race days. When I started to learn this, my speed and ability to run more miles increased. 
2. Know when to get new shoes
• The more miles you run, the more often you'll need to change your shoes. Most years I would get by with one pair of shoes. In 2016, I was running more miles than ever. I kept an eye on how many miles my shoes got. The recommendation is between 300-500 miles. I always got new shoes after 300 miles to help prevent injury.
3. Stretch before and after the run
• There have been many studies that say stretching is bad. I'm not a believer in those studies. I've learned through my multiple trips to the physical therapist that stretching is good. Before each run I make sure to do a few minutes of dynamic stretching. After each run I take 5-10 minutes and get static stretches in. Following this plan, I've been able to stay relatively injury free and have greatly increased my flexibility.
4. Treadmill running isn't that bad
• Many runners despise the treadmill for various reasons. I've found the treadmill makes it possible to run when you don't have much time to run, or need to run in a safe and controlled environment. Most of the time I have to run is really early in the morning, before work. Usually it's dark and hard to find safe places to run. Running on a treadmill allows me to keep running year round and not take time off.
5. Learned about different injuries
• Injuries are something runners never look forward to. When I get injured, I try to use the time as a learning experience. I was 'unlucky' to deal with a calf sprain, Plantar Fasciitis and Achilles Tendonitis. I never had those injuries before. I had to learn about them to figure out more about where the injury was, possible causes for it, and how to properly rehabilitate it.
6. Following a training plan is helpful
• Since high school I have always created my own training schedule. It was always very loose and didn't have much structure to it. I would still run races, but would rarely see improvements in my finish time. I decided to change that and followed the Hansons Half Marathon plan. Though I wasn't able to hit a PR in the half marathon, I was able to hit a 5K PR, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly mileage PRs.
7. Make use of the features on your watch
• Watches these days have so many features it's difficult to know what works well for you. At the beginning of the year, I got a new Garmin. I knew it would keep track of the basics. What I didn't know was how to get it working when I was on a treadmill. I also didn't know it was possible to set alert zones for running too fast or too slow. Once I learned how to make these features work, it helped take some of the mental game out of them.

Hope you had a great 2016. Here's to an awesome start to 2017!