Comments on: Small Wins = Huge Improvements: How to Run Faster Over the Long-Term

By: Clynton Taylor

Clynton Taylor — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 04:37:55 +0000

That’s great, catchy advice!

By: Fitz

Fitz — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:58:20 +0000

Thanks Clynton, very insightful. Big wins in running are often numerous small wins accomplished over a longer period of time. The small wins add up and sometimes new runners want to make drastic improvements too fast.

Like my old coach used to say, “Avoid the 3 too’s – too far, too soon, too fast.”

By: Clynton Taylor

Clynton Taylor — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:39:37 +0000

Absolutely right, Fitz. We have to identify, push for, and celebrate the small wins. That’s the only way to get to the big wins, really. For beginner runners, which I perpetually seem to be!, just getting out the door is a small win that deserves notice. Another point on small wins is that we should only be attempting small improvements. Anything too drastically different isn’t healthy. If we’re running 5 miles, we shouldn’t suddenly try and run 15. So, if we don’t celebrate the small wins – an increment we’ve told ourselves we should advance at – we might forget how far we’ve come by the time we reach a larger milestone.

By: Karen Greenberg

Karen Greenberg — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 12:03:18 +0000

“treat the injury recovery process just as diligently as you would a normal period of training”

Another great perspective for me. Thank you!

By: Fitz

Fitz — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:50:57 +0000

Wow, thanks for the kind words Karen. I’m so glad you liked the article. Keep your head up and treat the injury recovery process just as diligently as you would a normal period of training. You’ll be back in no time.

By: Karen Greenberg

Karen Greenberg — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:44:42 +0000

Thank you for the great article and a reminder I definitely needed this week. I am a new runner (I’ve been running about six weeks), and I am injured to the point that I absolutely can’t run. The doc hopes I’ll be back up in a week to ten days. I’ve been terrified that I won’t be able to perform once I get back on the road. This article reminded me of the little victories I achieved in the first few weeks after I realized I could run. I need to look forward to those instead of expecting to be back where I was right away, but the small wins WILL come again. Thanks for the inspiration I needed this morning!

By: Small Wins « Space Pirates on the Run

Small Wins « Space Pirates on the Run — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 04:03:54 +0000

[...] a comment July 27, 2010 Firstly, a link to an article I think is really interesting/important: Small Wins and Long Term Running Success. I think it’s important for me to stop and appreciate any small gain with a goal I’m [...]

By: Fitz

Fitz — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:09:32 +0000

Thanks Greg! There are a lot of strategies you can implement to achieve all of these “small wins” to boost your motivation and confidence.

Racing too frequently can hurt if you’re not fit enough; it also depends on where you are in your training cycle. I’ll also check out your post/site. Thanks again!

By: Greg Strosaker

Greg Strosaker — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:03:43 +0000

Nice post. I agree with several of the points you made, specifically shooting for negative splits or some other manner of finishing strong (I wrote a post on this last week – http://predawnrunner.com/2010/07/finish-strong-boost-running-confidence/) and limiting your races. One commenter on this post also suggested another confidence booster – hold back a bit on your pace for speedwork early in the training season, so that you can better notice the progress as your program advances.

Frankly, I think a great majority of racers do too many races, losing sight of their “A” events and over-doing their training. I try to stick to two marathons per year, with maybe one race at each other distance (5K, 10K, 10 mile, half-marathons) just to test my progress on building speed.

Thanks for summarizing so many points in one post; I’ll put it up to my Facebook Fan Page.

By: Fitz

Fitz — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:44:59 +0000

Elaine,

Even when you’ve been running for as long as I have, a couple bad runs in a week still really suck

Great strategy to keep your motivation high! It’s often the little things that make big differences.