Is your fitness plan off-track? Here’s how to get back in gear

Could it really be May this week? I certainly have no idea where the last few months have gone. Despite great intentions my best-laid running plans have been hit by a few setbacks. I’m not in the position I thought I might be launching into the summer of running. Some of it is my own fault, and more of it is just life throwing a few unexpected challenges in my path. It happens to us all from time to time.

I could, and I have, got frustrated about my lack of consistency, but I just have to accept that there are times when running fits in well in our lives and others when it has to jostle for position or, worse, fall off the list entirely for a while.

If you are in the same position as I am, remember that all is not lost. Four months of the year may be behind us, but we have plenty more time to make up for our slow start.

We are entering into the best four months of the year for running. Longer evenings, T-shirt weather and colourful parks await us. It is without doubt the easiest time of the year for motivation, as well as the season with the best choice of race events in the calendar.

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We can’t change the last few months, but we can look forward to the next four months and start fresh again.

I’m aware that there are many of you who indeed have had a wonderful winter and spring of training, and I have huge admiration and respect for all you have achieved. Congratulations on setting goals that were within your grasp, but more importantly for following through on your commitment. Your spring success stories inspire so many of us to get our shoes back on.

If you watched the London Marathon on television you will know exactly what I mean. The months of dedication and consistency all pay off when the runners are rewarded with the experience and the celebration of all their hard work on race day. It is powerful television, and enough to send anyone with runner’s guilt out the door for a lap around the block.

If you have ticked all the boxes on your spring running list, then your motivation, fitness and adrenaline are probably all bursting at the seams. It’s easy to feel invincible and move on quickly to the next best thing. But please do remember that it is important to have a little time out after any large running milestone to let the body recover and reset before you take on anything new.

Nice exercise

Before you launch into a summer of running, whether you are a spring success story or a slow starter this year, a really nice exercise is to take a look back before you make your next few steps forward.

When coaching runners, as well as spending a lot of time planning their future, I feel it is important to take a regular look back at their recent history. We learn a lot from what went right – as well as what went wrong – on this running rollercoaster.

Whether you consider your year so far a running success or not, I encourage you to note the highlights, the setbacks and the lessons learned. Even for those of us who might not be where we planned to be, there are plenty of positives to be taken if we only take the time to write them down. Often the lessons we learn from a setback serve us well into the future, and make us better and more clearly focused runners.

Using the notes from our last four months as a starting point, it becomes easier to plan the future. Without this regular look back, month after month can disappear in a blur.

Having a more strategic view on our progress may seem more like the job of a project manager, but let’s remember that if we don’t do it no one else is going to make sure we are heading down the right road for us. You can indeed go along other runners’ paths, but that is no way to follow your dream.

So 10 minutes is all I ask of you today. First, write down what I suggested above, a quick summary of your last four months: the milestones, the setbacks and the lessons learned.

Then put on your thinking hat, and look ahead to the end of August. Imagine yourself four months on from today looking back at your summer of running. What would you like to have accomplished in this time that is realistic based on your starting point now?

Distance of choice

It may be a long awaited return to 5k, a PB over your distance of choice or maybe this could finally be the summer you venture into long distance running.

You might want to become a morning runner, a club runner or someone who balances their running with strength and mobility work.

You might even decide to give running a break for the summer and try something else. That’s totally fine too.

But until you decide where you want to be, and work out what is actually possible with the fitness and time that you do have, dreams remain just that.

Once we commit to something on paper it becomes a little more real. It’s exciting and is motivating. But most importantly the next four months don’t blend into the last four and you start a clean slate now today.

The world is out there for us to discover. Whether your plans are to walk, run, swim or spend more time lying on the grass reading a book, decide now what your summer is going to look like.

I will check back in with you again once we hit that end-of-August milestone to see how you got on. As you can probably guess we will plan our autumn running using our summer of running as the foundation.

- Mary Jennings is founder and running coach with ForgetTheGym.ie. Her new book Get Running published by Gill Books is out now.

Sign up for one of The Irish Times' Get Running programmes (it is free!). 
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Best of luck!