Why Being a New Runner Can Suck, No Matter How Fit You Are

Professional paddle board racer April Zilg on how athletes from other sports can (and should!) overcome the initial struggle of being a beginner runner.

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Running can suck. Every runner knows it's not all PRs and hugs. But running especially sucks when you KNOW you’re fit—at least for another sport—and it’s still ridiculously painful and excruciatingly slow.

When the number eight world-ranked professional paddleboard racer April Zilg first started running in 2016, she could paddle hard for 25 miles without stopping, but couldn’t run 200 meters without collapsing. What gives?

Despite the fact she was admittedly, “horrible” when she started, she’s since gotten better mentally and physically. She just returned from a victory at the Pan-American Games in Peru, which featured a running start and finish. She was the first to the water and stayed ahead, thanks to her dryland workouts.

As a professional athlete who took up running later in her athletic career, Zilg experienced the struggle of adjusting to running fitness. It’s a slow, frustrating process, even for people who are already “fit.” We sat down to find out why she kept at it even though it sucked:

Runner’s World: What’s it like to train for paddling?

April Zilg: In a typical week, I do strength sessions, interval sessions, and a long, slow two- to three-hour paddle. I do two-a-days most days, while taking one day completely off and one day doing recovery-level work.

When did you decide to add running to your SUP training?

In paddle board races you sometimes have to “hit the beach,” which involves jumping off your board and running about 100 meters to a finish line. I was racing against a girl who was number one in the world, and I beat her off the water, but the run to the finish line was 200 meters and I got friggin’ blistered. We had to run up the beach in soft sand, and my heart rate went up to something like 200 and I fell to the ground like a thousand-pound gorilla just jumped on me. I was just lying there like, “Nope. Can’t. No.” I knew I needed to fix that.


So, why is running so hard even if you’re fit?

It’s mentally defeating to try to run a long, slow distance if you’re fit in another sport, because you know the engine is there. I’ve done the Holland Eleven Cities tour, where I paddled six hours a day for five days in a row, and I can do that, and while I’m tired and fatigued, my arms feel fine.

But if I ran for more than an hour, my feet hurt, my knees hurt—something will hurt! And I would consider myself pretty muscularly balanced too. So it wasn’t a muscle that was hurting, it’s always like some ligament or tendon. So you’re fit but your body’s like, “Mmmm, no we don’t do this.” I tried a long run in the mountains here in Santa Barbara, and it was fun; I was out for about two and a half hours and the run was fine, and but two days later my foot hurt, and I couldn’t go out for another two weeks. My physical therapist looked at me like I was an idiot and said, “It doesn’t matter that you’re fit. Start. Smaller.”


What did “smaller” look like to you?

I downloaded this app called Metron that prescribes me short workouts twice a week. I worked on running in the sand, doing 20- to 40-minute running workouts with 100- to 200-meter sprints, and that made a big difference.

Starting short was nice because I still felt like I was getting a workout, I was releasing endorphins and sweating, and I felt like I had done something that day but I wasn’t crippled afterwards. And the shorter time intervals made it digestible.

But the first session I tried, it hurt so bad. I remember thinking “is this what runners feel like?”


How else has your paddling benefitted from running?

When it’s extremely rainy and windy, the conditions can become unsafe enough that I can’t go out on the water. So now I can run instead of missing a workout, because I can perform the exact same workout as far as intensity levels, I just do it running.

Also, paddling can be painful and miserable, but running is still worse. So I think mentally, if I can run for the same amount of time that I paddle, it’s going to make me mentally stronger for paddling.

Why should other athletes try running?

When I run I have no expectations for myself or preconceived notions about how I should do, finish, or feel. I have my paddling very dialed in, and I have expectations, and those expectations can be exhausting, especially when you don't meet them sometimes. With a running race, I can just go out, push my limits, and finish however I finish with a big smile on my face. There is no fear of failure. No expectations. Maybe doing more running races can help reset my mindset to treat more of my paddling events that way too—I'd probably do better.

April’s Favorite Running Workout:
Warm up:
one mile easy run
Main set:
1000 meter sprint (3 minutes rest)
400 meter sprint (3 minutes rest)
700 meter sprint (3 minutes rest)
300 meter sprint (3 minutes rest)
600 meter sprint (3 minutes rest)
200 meter sprint (3 minutes rest)
Cool Down:
half-mile easy run

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