Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run

by Martinus Evans

Runners who aren’t running to win, but to celebrate their bodies. Runners who run because they can. Runners who have been told that they can’t because they look a certain way. Runners in the back who have been forgotten about and left to fend for themselves.

And to be perfectly frank, running on its own won’t cause you to lose weight. During my training for my more than eight marathons, I did not lose any weight. In fact, I gained weight during some of those training cycles

Every step hurt more than the last. Yet, every single step was bringing me closer to my goal. The frustration, disbelief, and exhaustion began to fade as the low hum of something more began to build in its place.

I’ll never forget that moment, and everything that had come before it, not for as long as I live.

This is running in a nutshell. Yes, it’s putting one foot in front of the other and swinging your arms and breathing as you carry yourself through the world, but it’s also about what’s going on in your brain. Running is a struggle of the mind. It’s literally you versus the thoughts in your head versus other people’s thoughts of you versus the thoughts in your head about other people’s thoughts of you. Still with me? Basically,

the art of running is conquering your will, your judgments, and other people’s judgments.

Your mindset is EVERYTHING. When the chips are down, what makes a runner a runner is more than athletic ability. It’s how you decide to handle your challenges.

However, mindset is the difference between hitting the snooze button and getting a run in.

The definition of run on Merriam-Webster.com is “to go faster than a walk.”

if you can move your legs to go faster than a walk, then You. Are. A. RUNNER! It

You can start running in the body you have right now. You’ve got everything you need. The last piece is self-perception. Is yours holding you back?

“The way I run will look and be different and that’s okay.”

Becoming an athlete requires you to see your thoughts and emotional processes from the outside.

You can turn negative thoughts into positive ones and losses into wins.

You have to train yourself to think differently about how running relates to your identity.

Or do you see yourself as a fat, slow, and/or nontraditional athlete who can celebrate running regardless of the state of your body?

The body that you have today is the body that you have today. You can do only what you can do today. You can’t worry about yesterday, ten years ago, or the point at which you were your smallest (or heaviest) in high school. We need to focus only on the present moment.

You can literally train your brain (in fact, rewire it!) with positive self-talk and a belief in yourself.

No struggle, no progress I’ll run if I have to run by myself I got this! Every day I’m shuffling Your race, your pace You can do hard things Slow but show One step at a time Stay in the moment I love hills!!! Inclines equal declines

One mile at a time, one step at a time Keep going—you never know who you might be inspiring today Bad bitches don’t stop! Focus on the mile you’re in! This is hard, but I can do hard things! The mind gives up long before the body needs to Still not dead. Getting stronger with each step! Comparison is the thief of joy Slow is steady, steady is fast Settle in. Hunker down. Chill out. I am, I can, I will, I do Sexy, sexy, sexy, pace

Think about where these kinds of thoughts come from and ask yourself whether they are serving you. What

Everything is unrealistic until it’s not.

I tried and failed multiple times but believed that I would eventually be where I wanted to be.

You have to be the first person who thinks that you’re going to achieve what you’ve set out to do.

you can crush your goals all the way to the bank—or the finish line.

Somebody said you can’t? Do it anyway.

Just remember at the end of the day that your biggest competition in running is yourself.

You can’t compare your Day 1 to someone else’s Day 100.

The only thing that you can do is to track your own progress, stay on the journey, and keep going.

had something to prove, right?

Yes! You can be a runner. PERIOD!

An efficient running form ensures that every movement helps us move forward and doesn’t waste energy with unnecessary motion.

(Rule number one of running: Never compare yourself to others.

This component of form is important because it keeps the diaphragm open, and as a result, you can breathe more efficiently while running.

(Visualize holding a pebble in your hand. You want that pebble to move freely but not fall out of your hand.)

(but the more you run, the more paces you will add to your arsenal).

This is about learning how to manage your energy and monitoring your effort level.

Get to the distance that you want to run first, and then go back to work on speed. That will help you build consistency.

You’ll find that the more you run, the easier it is to breathe!

You want to set the run interval so you stop before your legs are tired.

If you need more of a break, shorten your run interval; don’t increase your walk.

Running is a great self-experiment!