running is a basic human instinct

As a sperm, you ran to be born.

We all ran as a sperm to be born. We all were busy practicing our running, kick our moms when we were just a foetus. That carried on after being born, long before we could stand, leave alone walk or run. By 2 or 3 years we all were running all over the place, without being taught how to run, without worrying too much about which shoe will make you mov better. And then life happened. Sitting, wearing shoes, carrying heavy bags and using all kinds of gadgets became an integral part of life. We lost touch with the most basic human instinct, to move, to walk, to run. It all seemed alien.

It's not so much about learning again as much as it's actually about unlearning. It's important to make you comfortable with moving yet again. As a 2 or 3 year old, you ran for the fun of it, not for any numbers. Lets get back at it.

running injuries

If Running is your Love, Strength Training is your Mother-In-Law.

Modern sedentary lifestyle makes us to sit on our royal back sides for one-third (8hrs/day) to half (12hrs/day) of our lives. Those posteriors of ours are not only for aesthetic purposes but play a very important role in movement. Sadly they are so underused, and soon enough they forget to move. It's not for nothing that sitting is called today's smoking.

75-80% of runners get an injury on an annual basis. Majority of these injuries happen because of muscle imbalances (gross muscle weakness & stiffness). This further leads to poor running form. 

To markedly reduce the incidence of injuries, it is very important to start strength training. Like your Mother-in-Law, you don't have to love Strength Training. Just do it to have an everlasting awesome relationship with your love, Running. 

running effortlessly

If you want to Run as Fast as you can, Slow down.

A lot of people make too much effort to run faster. In the process, they injure themselves. You have picked up a great hobby, lets first make a solid foundation by strength training and learning to land softly. This will help you improve your running form. Keep at it gradually, and soon enough you are ready to go fast.

It's also important to remember than running is about you and not about everyone else. Please don't yet again get in to a rat race. Having said that, target putting in harder effort than you have done previously. Try to get better than what you were yesterday.

I regularly write, blog, host podcast and FBLive to cater to these issues.

running shoes

Before delving deeper, a disclaimer — from 2014 to 2017, I was Principal Technical Consultant and Head Coach for running for adidas India. Before taking on the role, my only condition was that I would not promote running shoes but running itself. That, yet again, is my intent here.

Running shoes are over-rated, more so the technology in them, and yet they are important, very important. Here I’ll take you through why they are important, how they are dumbing you down, and what should you look for when buying them.