KISS

Written by Steve Jackson

KISS (Keep It Simple Steve)

I’m sure many of you have heard or seen the acronym KISS, in the engineering world it’s a design principle to emphasize systems work best when not overly complicated – “Keep It Simple, Stupid”. I have to admit that running is a pretty simple activity, yet it often can be made complicated when focusing on a particular time/distance goal. Mapping out a training plan, shoes are the right shoes to wear, what nutrition and hydration supplements during a run should be used, is the “right” pace being hit throughout the workout, and “Oh” – got to squeeze in work and the family at some point. The overwhelming amount of training information available through social media, friends, even our watches can lead to anxiety and frustration. This is when I often have to remind myself, Keep It Simple, Steve.

1. Am I really listening to my body? Am I eating right? Getting enough sleep?

Rather obvious questions, yet runners will often turn a deaf ear to their body. “Ya, the pain in my butt will go away on its own, I can still do the workout tomorrow.” We have all had variations of this, from just feeling a little more tired than usual or dealing with a nagging pain or soreness. We hope all of these will go away on their own, they often don’t, see a doctor sooner than later! Common sense nutrition and getting proper sleep is a given, but we all have to remind ourselves about it throughout our hectic lives. I try to avoid spicy or heavy rich foods before a hard workout or a race, no need to take extra trips to the porta-john!

2. Am I ignoring my rest and recovery days?

When we are feeling good and excited about the progress we are making or if we aren’t making the progress we want, we often disregard our rest days. You know I cannot emphasize this enough, rest days allow our body to recover, allowing us to do even more.

3. Am I dreading the run? Am I having fun?

If the answers are yes and no, it just might mean the focus of our training is too intense or we are turning a deaf ear to the aches and pains. We can ask ourselves, are we making sure we are doing some of our easy runs with our friends, that teammate who when we run with them make the miles seem effortless? Are we picking the routes that are enjoyable? A favorite back road, easy trails, bucolic view, fun city scene, etc.!

4. Am I a slave to my Garmin? Am I running loops around the parking lot to get the exact mileage?

We have so many tools to help us train better, keep track of everything we do. However, do these tools also add to the anxiety and frustration? Hard to do, but we could consider some days not wearing the watch (or maybe just cover over the face) and not worry about making sure the run is 5.0 miles versus maybe 4.8; or worry we didn’t do 8:30 per mile; just run and enjoy the route. Being the old geezer that I am, I didn’t run with a watch until my junior year in college and we only were “timed” in races or if the coach had a stopwatch on us for our track workouts. It really was a lot simpler and maybe a bit more freeing!

So, remember, when the training seems to get overwhelming, frustrating or just plain tiresome think of the acronym KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid or Steve or Sarah or Sam or Susan or . . . . . . . . . . .)