Who knew that moms are the best coaches (and no, that’s not me and my mom up there)? Seriously, just think about all those little nuggets of wisdom your mom has been telling you all your life. You didn’t realize they had anything to do with running, did you?
Neither did I, until the day I went for a run and the idea for this blog popped into my head. I am joining the Friday Five 2.0 from Fairytales & Fitness and Rachel @ Running on Happy and sharing five things you mom always told you that will help your running.
Anything worth doing is worth doing right
The reason a lot of would-be runners give up on running is that they figure it’s easy and they jump into it with little research. Spoiler: it ain’t so easy for most folks when they start.
You started for a reason. No doubt something was telling you that running was a good idea. Do yourself a favor and join a group, hire a coach, or do a little research about running.
You can thank me later. And your mom.
If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?
All your running friends are running marathons, or ultras, or trying tris. Maybe that sounds really exciting to you . . . and maybe it doesn’t.
Don’t do it just because all your friends are doing it — do it because you truly want to (because most of these things are really hard). And if you don’t want to? You can always drive and cheer.
Go outside and play!
Do moms even still say that? Well, they sure said that when I was growing up. Spending time outside doing something fun is time you will never regret.
Stand up straight
People tell me all the time that they think I’m taller than I am (5’1″). I don’t think my posture is really all that great, but I do try to be aware of it and I think that’s what creates the illusion of more inches.
Not slouching while running will actually help your running — it’s hard to take in a deep breath when you’re all hunched over. This is a momism that will always be true.
This too shall pass
We’ve all had bad days, bad runs, and bad races. Whatever made it bad is temporary. A better day, run, and race is around the corner. If you’re feeling terrible during your run, you’re not going to feel terrible for all your runs.
What did your mom tell you that can be applied to running?
Did your mom tell you the same things?
How’s your posture?
Chocolaterunsjudy 
That picture of you and Dimity! LOL! I met her too and she is really tall. And yes, I was surprised you weren’t taller.
My mom gave a lot of good advice but also some really wacky advice. I had to cherry pick through it and it took me a few years to figure out what to follow!
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I will actually be meeting up with Dimity again at the AMR retreat in a couple of weeks.
My mom wasn’t really big on advice giving, but she did definitely say some of those things!
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Well don’t all of these sound familiar! And all true
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I actually pictured you taller as well! The jumping off of the bridge quote my mom definitely said.
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Oh yes, the jumping off the bridge thing was one of my mom’s favs.
Everyone tells me that they think I’m taller, but then again, I thought Coco was a lot taller, too!
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I try to keep my shoulders back, but years of hunching over the keyboard hasn’t helped.
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Seriously, my posture isn’t that great. But I do think about it . . . sometimes. Especially in photos, apparently. 😉
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I love this! People think I’m taller than I am, too, I do have decent posture too so maybe that’s it. My mother told me I would never be good enough and I take deep, deep solace in the fact that my running, while not on all measures “good” is good enough for me, and I do a lot of good in the running world through my volunteering and officiating. Probably not what you were looking to hear but it’s come to me to write that.
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Well, sometimes our moms help us by making us want to prove them wrong!
My mom was extremely worried I’d injure myself when I started to run. After a while, though, she superficially liked the way it made me look, so encouraged me to keep running.
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Love the picture of you and Dimity! I used to read her all the time in Runners’ World! So cool! Yes, I can admit it now – my mom was right. I am sure she said all of the above to me at one time or another. Along with “If you can’t say anything nice about a person…” 🙂
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Oh yes, that’s a good one!
I will actually be seeing Dimity again in 2 weeks. My next half is part of the AMR retreat. 🙂
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One thing I remember my Mom always telling me is bring a sweater. I guess that could be applied for running when I need to start layering when the seasons change.
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Don’t even talk to me about trying to figure out the layers right now . . .
However, planes can get cold! Although I guess when you’re busy you feel warmer?
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Omg, how tall is your friend!? I mean 5’1 is on the shorter side but it is not like crazy short. It is just “normal” short. Is your friend crazy tall or normal tall? 🙂
My mom didn’t need to tell us to go outside and play, because when I was a kid, that’s all there was to do!!
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Well, she’s not actually my “friend”, she’s one half of Another Mother Runner — and she’s over 6 foot. 🙂
Hey, when I was a kid, that’s really all there was. No internet! B&W tv! Rotary dial phones!
But of course there was drawing & reading & playing my flute, all indoors activities.
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