5 Tips to get you Up & Running from the Running Guru himself.
Ron Roddan is undoubtedly one of the best and most decorated athletics coaches in British history. He began coaching in 1964 and at 85 years old he’s still an active coach for Thames Valley Harriers. His methods and techniques are something that we use in our DASH classes. He’s produced more international athletes than anybody else, you may have heard of some of them…. Linford Christie to name a few.
Don’t jog. Run.
“You should either walk or run, you shouldn’t jog it’s not good for you”
Ron defines jogging as landing on your full foot as opposed to the balls of your feet. If you land on your full foot you hit the ground quite hard, which isn’t good for the whole body as each time you do that it jars the body. Regardless of the distance you should always ensure you’re on the balls of your feet and running.
If you can talk yourself out of it, you can talk yourself into it.
When you start anything it’s always a little daunting, there’s always excuses for everything & so remember Ron’s advice is “if you can talk yourself out of it you can always talk yourself into it too. All you need to do is aim to do the best of your ability. Don’t worry about people around you, they’re not worried about you – just keep the focus on yourself.”
Ron with the training diary he’s kept since 1982
Be prepared to adapt
“Anybody can do anything, they’ve just got to want to do it”. We know in the U.K the weather isn’t always on our side but Ron’s wise words are: “As long as you can dress properly for the time of year, you can do anything any time – even if it’s pouring down with rain, as long as you dry off afterwards, you’ll be fine”
LISTEN to your body
When you start out everything feels hard and sometimes you can’t ignore that voice in your head saying “stop” & this is just because your body’s not used to it. So when you start doing something take it easy. Go as far as you can and when your body says “no more” just take a little rest – you’ll get better each week.
Ron Roddan’s many “Coach of the Year” awards and accolades along with 30 years worth of training records… gold dust!
If you enjoy it, keep doing it.
You should not be bound by results or how you’ve performed. Not everyone can be an Olympic champion – however if you’re enjoying keep going. Don’t think about anything too much too soon, take it 1 day at a time, 1 hour at a time & learn patiently to do things in the right way.
If you’d like to learn more about how to prepare and run better, book your class here
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