How do you become a better runner?

What is "being a better runner”? What does it mean to you? Does it mean you want to be faster? You want to run longer distances? To run injury-free with better form? To get better, you need to understand what your definition is. Maybe its all of the above....

I want to be a better runner. And while I want all of the above, I'm focusing on small steps...incremental improvements to get there. If you've ever taken a Franklin Covey class, its all about reviewing your long-term goals and finding small things you can do on a regular basis towards attaining that big goal. So, right now, I'm focusing on increasing my mileage to handle a 10K race (in January well). Once I feel that I can easily run 6 miles straight, I'll work on increasing that speed. Once I manage that, I'll increase my distance again to handle the half marathon distance (in February-April), and once I'm confident about that, I'll focus on increasing that speed.

I simply can't take a bite out of everything...so I need to work on one little goal at a time, something manageable and not too overwhelming or unobtainable. So, speed will be set aside for now, while I work on getting the mileage in and strengthening my bones. While I know my bones have strengthened since I started, they are still not 100% for the 10K distance. How awful it would be to finish a 10K race and feel great about it, only to take off 4-6 weeks of running to recover, and because of that, not be able to run the half marathon races I've signed up for! So, I'm taking it small....handling it in increments, and hopefully will reap the rewards.