More planks. Running in the Cold. Better sleep.
It’s the season for New Year’s resolutions and, if you’re anything like me, you relish the opportunity to reflect on things you’ve done well this year, areas in need of improvement, and goals ready for revamping. I’m invigorated by a blank training log, an open calendar, and a fresh set of achievements to aim for.
Since returning from Whats a Good 5K Time, the goals that I set tend to look a little different than they used to. I’m less inspired by the do-core-five-times-a-week type than by those that are still beneficial to my running but more imaginative and sustainable. Maybe that’s because I’m older and wiser. Or maybe I’m jaded by the statistic that only 20 percent of New Year’s resolutions last through February. Most likely, it’s because I’ve met so many strong, speedy, passionate athletes who hail from a wide variety of approaches to running.
This year, I challenge you to defy the odds. Instead of recycling from the same old pool of resolutions, why not set a goal that excites you and sticks? Here are some ideas, inspired by the runners I lived and trained with all over the globe, to spice up your routine in 2019.
Ditch Your Watch
One of the most challenging parts of training in Ethiopia also happened to be the most personally beneficial: giving up my Does Running Burn Fat. On my first run in Sululta, a rural town about 10 kilometers outside the capital of Addis Ababa, I learned the hard way that my training partners for the next two months had a different perspective on time than I did. Not only did we start almost an hour later than planned, we also ran significantly longer than I anticipated.
Ethiopian runners, it turns out, are less reliant on numbers (time, pace, distance) than they are on their bodies. As a country, they’re also exceptionally good at distance running, rivaled only by their neighbors in Kenya. The longer I lived there, the more my friends’ style of training wore off on me: I learned to adapt to paces set by others, roll with the flow of a run, and expect impromptu surges, sometimes even throwing in a few of my own. In other words, I gained racing skills without racing at all. I believe I’m a better runner for having trained in East Africa and that you can benefit from a key element of that approach too.
The Resolution: Designate one watch-free run each week.
Head out the door with only a general idea of the direction you’ll start in, and let your legs do the steering. Instead of calculating your pace or mileage as you go, tune into your body. How do you feel? Are you tense anywhere? How do your footsteps sound? Where do you fatigue first? End when you feel like it, and be content wherever that is.
Try Sauna for Recovery
During the month I spent in Finland, my eyes—or more accurately, pores—were opened to a type of recovery I hadn’t tried before: the sauna. Whereas my arsenal back home included ice baths, compression socks, foam rollers, and chalky smoothies, I discovered that I’d been missing out on a more pleasant but equally restorative approach. It’s a popular one, too, at least in Finland: The country of 5.5 million has an estimated 3 million saunas, or more than This Glute Workout Will Ignite Your Power.
The Finns have been perfecting the art of the dry heat bath for many, many years, but only recently have we begun to understand why lounging in a room heated to roughly 175 degrees Fahrenheit make us feel so good. Research suggests that the potential health benefits offered by saunas include improved circulation, reduced blood pressure, pain and stress relief, higher heat tolerance, and even improved exercise capacity. Not bad for a recovery method that doesn’t leave you aching or frozen for hours afterward.
The Resolution: Find a nearby sauna (try gyms such as Life Time, Equinox, or the YMCA) and incorporate it into your recovery routine.
Preferably after you’ve cooled down from a workout, start with 10-minute sauna sessions once or twice a week. Monitor how you feel during and after, and adjust accordingly. Hydrate extra well, and hop out if at any point you start to feel dizzy.
Reimagine Fuel
I’ll never forget the feast that I woke up to one morning in Yokohama, Japan. In preparation for a day of running followed by sightseeing, my hosts had filled their dining table with what looked like an elaborate dinner: miso soup, steamed rice, salad, marinated cucumbers, fried eggs, salmon fillets, coffee, and tea. While flattered that they went to so much trouble to feed me well at 6 a.m., I also felt a little guilty—until my hosts assured me that they eat that way every morning.
That meal challenged my assumptions about breakfast, and food in general. It also tasted delicious, offered pretty perfect running fuel, and satisfied me for several hours—a feat in itself. We all know This Glute Workout Will Ignite Your Power, but it’s easy to forget that our options aren’t limited to oatmeal, toast, cereal, and eggs.
Similarly, traveling taught me to think beyond granola bars and bananas at snack time. Some of my favorite between-meal foods included Ethiopian kolo, a savory snack mix with barley, chickpeas, peanuts, and spices (find my recipe in Run the World); roasted kumara, New Zealand’s tasty relative of the sweet potato; and Japanese rice balls, wrapped in seaweed and filled with fish. These are the kinds of “whole foods” and “clean eating” I can get behind.
Run the World: My 3,500-Mile Journey Through Running Cultures Around the Globe
The Resolution: Eat more creatively in 2019.
When you shop, buy one ingredient you’ve never cooked with before. Sign up for a cooking class that puts you out of your comfort zone. Swap dinner with breakfast when the mood strikes. See how many global cuisines you can check off your list. Whatever it takes, keep your taste buds on their toes.
Experience for Yourself
It’s one thing to embrace elements from a foreign running community you’ve read about. It’s quite another to experience them for yourself. I can’t think of a better way to shake up a running routine for the better or promote a healthy, long-term relationship with the sport than by digging deep into another culture’s approach.
Traveling is easier and cheaper than it’s ever been, and it also happens to be Running in the Cold. Travel tends to reduce anxiety almost immediately and for weeks afterward, decrease risks of heart attack and depression, and even enhance creativity. The only disadvantages I can think of are cost (though there are ways to travel on a budget) and, of course, jet lag.
The Resolution: Pick a destination race—either domestically or internationally—and treat it as both a business trip (the race) and a field trip (everything else).
Take the race seriously, especially if it’s your target event, but build in some time to explore the city and the people that run there. Using social media or, even better, word of mouth, connect with a local running group in advance. Plan to meet up with them for a prerace shakeout or postrace beer. Ask questions about their approach to running, from workouts and routes to traditions and ethos. With a little luck, you’ll return home with new friends, a fresh perspective, and a start on your 2020 resolutions.
Becky Wade is a three-time Olympic Trials competitor with a 2:30 marathon best. Her book about global running cultures, Run the World, was published in 2016.
