“I should be farther by now.”

2 Minute Read

Progress doesn’t care about our timelines—and trying to force it can cost us everything.

It’s one of the most common and corrosive thoughts runners experience:

“I should be farther by now.”

It sounds reasonable. You’ve been training for months. You’ve hit most of your runs. You’ve done hard things. So why aren’t you faster? Why hasn’t your long run gotten easier? Why doesn’t it feel like it’s working?

That frustration doesn’t just steal joy—it quietly rewires how we train. And if left unchecked, it can lead to overtraining, burnout, or even giving up completely. Not because we’re not making progress… but because we’ve decided it’s not happening fast enough.

Why Progress Feels “Late” (Even When It’s Not)

Most of us carry an invisible calendar.

• “By 3 months in, I should be able to do X.”

• “If I’m this consistent, I should be getting faster.”

• “If I’m not seeing results by now, I’m doing something wrong.”

But progress isn’t linear—and it’s definitely not scheduled. Just because you’ve been consistent doesn’t mean a breakthrough is due this week. Fitness doesn’t care about our timelines.

What makes this mindset dangerous is that it masquerades as ambition. But it’s actually impatience. It doesn’t make us better—it makes us chase shortcuts, train angry, or doubt ourselves right when we were about to turn a corner.

What This Mindset Leads To

Feeling “behind” pushes runners to overcorrect.

Instead of staying consistent, we try to catch up. And that usually means:

• Adding more mileage than we’re ready for

• Turning every run into a test or a time trial

• Changing the plan prematurely (“This isn’t working”)

• Doubting every sign of progress because it’s not dramatic

The irony? These reactions delay the very progress we were chasing. Because they add noise. And panic. And friction. The things consistency is designed to protect us from.

How to Train Without a False Deadline

Here’s the truth: You are not “behind.” There is no “should.”

There’s just the work you’ve done, the work you’re doing, and the work that’s coming next. And when you stay focused on that, progress compounds.

Here’s how to stay grounded:

• Shift your timeline from weeks to years. Most runners underestimate how much they’ll improve in 2–3 years of consistency. Stop measuring growth in 10-day windows.

• Use metrics that reflect effort, not just outcome. Track how often you show up, how well you pace your workouts, how you recover—not just how fast you ran.

• Celebrate delayed payoff. If you’re not seeing fast results, it might mean you’re building something durable. That’s a good sign. That’s what real training feels like.

Final Thoughts

There is no “too late” in running. There is only too impatient.

When you train under the illusion that you’re behind, you invite chaos into the process. But when you stay present, trust the work, and drop the imaginary timeline—you free yourself up to actually improve.

And with that mindset, we build a routine we love and train consistently. Because with consistency, we build passion.