Time Management 162 - Advice to

Hello everyone, this is Helen Huang @ Organizing, based in Beijing, China. In order to better learn and practice the YiXiaoNeng Time Management System, after finished publishing 100 Chinese articles, I decided to continue writing and publishing a daily English article in another 100 days based on the "YeWuBin Time Management 100 Episodes" audio program. Today is the 162nd day.

Today's topic is: Advice to Follow Before During and After Your Run

Today, I will talk more about running as example of developing a habit of exercise in your life.

The first thing to remember is that exercise and sports not only bring us health, but it can also replenish our energy. And if done in the morning, can provide us happiness through the release of endorphins that will stay with us for the rest of the day. Therefore, I recommend you run in the morning.

Second, make sure you run slowly in order to run over a long distance. I recommend you practice the LSD method, which is Long Slow Distance, in order to give it enough time for those endorphins to be released so you'll experience the happiness that comes from this phenomenon. With it, you'll fall in love with running, and be motivated to run faster and faster over time.

Next, recall the 5-word method that running expert Wu Dong teaches us that will prevent injury. They are stand upright, body lean, be soft, keep balance and be strong.

Today, I will talk more about running. I will share some important things you should be aware of before running, in the process of running and after running.

First, Before running:

Before running there are just a few things to remember. Keep your stomach empty. And if you're running in the morning, except to drink some water.

Don't run as soon as you get up.  Instead, complete a mildly strenuous activity for 30 minutes like yoga or even write a morning diary, then proceed to run.

Warming up is unnecessary before running. Instead, run slowly for the first kilometer.  Make sure you run very slowly so you don't injure yourself. This will give yourself enough time to get the blood flowing in your body.

During running:

During running, you don't need to drink water if running less than 10km.

If you run every day, then make sure you gradually build up your distance so that you don't injure yourself.  I recommend running 3-5 kms at first and then move on to 5-10 kms. Don't run too much. Keep the same distance for one to two months before slowly adjusting your distance.

When running, you can mix up your strategies. For instance, sometimes you can jog using the LSD method. And in other times, you can try short distance running or variable-pace running.

Pay close attention to body's balance and posture when running.

It's better to run in the daytime rather than at night, especially for beginners.  At night, it is difficult to see the road surface below you, and you may trip over sudden changes in the slope in the ground or sudden objects like sewer grates, or raised sidewalks.

After running:

Stretching after running is very important! Not before, but after you run. Make sure only to stretch on warm muscles, or you will risk injury.

There are two types of stretches, and you should do both of them: static stretching and dynamic stretching.

Static stretching means stand still when stretching and maintaining a pose for at least 30 seconds.  For example if you sit on the ground with your legs straight in front of you, and then reach towards your toes – that is a static stretch.

Dynamic stretching means constant movement such as rolling your arms in a circular motion.

Stretching helps us shape our muscles as well as to relax them after exercise. I do recommend doing more static stretches then dynamic stretching, as the effect will be better.

If you join our classroom Yixiaoneng course on the second morning, I will lead you on a 5 km run. After more than 8 months of this event in my courses, I've observed that static stretching after running has helped recovery and flexibility and no one has been injured yet.

Almost every student who has joined the offline Yixiaoneng course develops the habit of exercise, because they see just how positive and pleasurable it can feel when done correctly. Now, are you willing to run?

I must emphasize – do not exercise too hard or you will risk injury, and the key to all of this is to prevent injury. Maintain the same distance and effort for one month before increasing. 

I also suggest you don't run more than 10 km on any one day. After two months, I would say that you can try to run 15 km or a half marathon.

In the next lesson, I will teach you how to register for a marathon and review the major issues to keep in mind when running a marathon. Also, I'll share with you what marathon goals you should challenge yourself with.

That's all sharing today. Thank you being with me together today. Have a wonderful day!