2025 Ins and Outs: Running

Ins:

Group runs of any size. 

Running with a group is so much better than running alone. You’re able to talk, meet others, get new perspectives, and overall just enjoy the run even more. Whether this is running with a run club every Thursday night at Runologie, or it’s running with a few friends and grabbing coffee before work, Running with others makes the miles, fun, easy, and memorable. One of the reasons so many of us run is the joy of being active with others. High school cross country is social hour masquerading as sport. Let’s do that as often as possible in 2025. It’s such a better way to spend your time on feet. 

Warming-Up Properly.

Is this awfully hypocritical of me? Yes. But warming up properly is sort of like flossing your teeth. When asked, you say, “Of course I do it every time.” In your head though you’re thinking, “Oh damn when’s the last time I’ve done a stretch before the run?” It’s not the sexy thing to do while you’re standing on the sidewalk in your neighborhood, but it’s probably going to help in the long run and keep you healthy. For that reason alone, I say it’s in for 2025. Let’s warm-up properly and make the neighbors think we’re goofy. 

Racing on a whim.

Running is so much for so many different reasons. Meditation, fitness, challenge, escape, peace, freedom, and much more. All of those reasons are good enough to get you out the door. One of the biggest reasons we do it is to see ourselves accomplish something. Whether that be a time goal, completion goal, or a lifelong dream. So for that, I say let’s race on a whim. We’re not going to run forever (Kipchoge might). So sign up for the random race that pops up during the week and try your best. Obviously we’d like to be at our best for every race, but I say we try and push ourselves out of comfort zone. Run a race one week out. Run a downhill mile. Do a trail race. Run that relay with your friends. Perfect fitness and perfect racing doesn’t exist. Don’t let your running career pass by. Run that race.

Outs:

Saying Easy Yog on Strava

We all know that your heart rate is the true measure of effort when it comes to running. Don’t hit the fastest 10 miles of your life and then title the run as Easy Jog with the fellas (I’ve done this in the past). Instead we should elevate our writing. Strava is arguably the most active social media that this generation has. We should make it something that aliens find in the future and must study. I’ve come up with a brief list of things to add to your Strava post: Dad jokes. A classy, simple joke written for the world to enjoy. Bonus points if you tie it into something you saw or said on your run. Topic of the run. This one works especially well when you’re running with people talking about something specific. Be honest you chose Danny Devito and a baseball bat to survive on an island alone with you. No shame in that. Philosophical questions. Nothing gets the community of Strava to think more than pondering the philosophical wonders of the world. How far could you run right now? How many beers could you drink during a 100 mile race? If you had to eat one thing before your runs for the rest of your life what would it be? Let the people discuss. 

Refusing to Run Trails. 

The more I write this article, the more I realize that it’s a crusade on my past self. I’ve fallen victim to many of these actions and for that I’m sorry. That being said, run some trails. Nothing shifts your focus and goals more than running some trails to get off the road. Take some time and chill on the trails every now and then. Shoot, you might just end up liking the trail enough to run on it more than sometimes. Then before you know it you’re running an ultra marathon with Silas forcing you to eat a Taco Bell Crunch Wrap before going out for your last lap of the Umstead 100 (Not likely to happen but possible). Anyways, hit the trails from time to time. It’s running in its purest form. Enjoy the slog, pay attention to the forest, get lost on the trails. Be whimsical.