Getting back into running is fraught with emotional hurdles that we have to overcome. Statistically those first 3-4 weeks are the hardest and where we have the most to endure both physically and mentally. Just look at the numbers of people that 'fall off the bandwagon' after New Years. It kills me every year seeing the numbers of runners slowly declining as we get into February, March and April. Surely we can break through this!
We’ve all been there as beginners, even some of the fastest runners you know probably began with those awkward, embarrassing first runs / walks and suffered from the same things that we do, but even with that in mind, I did not expect people of all experiences, shapes, sizes, abilities, ages to contribute to this debate. I don’t know what I expected to be honest, but certainly not the detail and emotive comment that I got back. The responses certainly gave me a renewed want to try and help people by addressing these issues in my coaching.
One of the main issues that came through in the responses was that of wanting to go longer, harder and faster every time you run.
An old coach of mine had a very simple saying, "finish at the finish."
Seems simple enough to do, right?
In a race or event, this absolutely makes sense but he also used to say this during almost every training session. Whether it was an easy recovery run or a hard interval session, 'finish at the finish' still rings true. Just like you can’t imagine stopping your race 100 metres before the finish line, nor should you imagine this during training. We are creatures of habit and by finishing actually at the finish and not before, we are looking to create a positive habit that is reinforced in each and every session, not just when the coach is looking.
One of the key things that I try to instil into the runners that I coach, is to "finish strong.” They are two simple words that may not seem like much when written into a training plan, but they make an enormous difference to how you run.
To show you what I mean, take a second to think about the different feelings in these two scenarios…
It’s probably not a very politically correct thing to say, but yes sometimes you can fall out of love with parkrun. Having done over 150 parkruns, I can very safely say that the vast majority have been hugely enjoyable experiences and I would not trade my Saturday morning jaunt around the lake for much else. I have dressed up, ran with no shoes, come first, come last, plateaued, PB’ed, paced people, raced people and most things between! However, like many parkrunners, there have been times when my motivation has dipped and you sometimes just fall out of love with it for a while. Now, I am not a doctor but I am going to diagnose this as 'hitting a parkrun rut.'
So when this awful ‘rut' strikes, what can you do?!?
The runners I coach are more likely to see the words ‘easy,' 'medium' and ‘hard’ in their training plans than to see specific paces. These are the three main efforts or intensities that I use in my coaching, as well as 'Race Effort'. Of course there is a place for more paces, efforts and measurements, but in a world where we are inundated with so much information and so many metrics (that we don’t understand!), I prefer to keep things simple.
Meet Scott (aka Dr. Scott). Scott ran the Gold Coast Marathon with guidance and coaching from GoRun. Running one marathon is impressive. At the time of writing, Scott had run 7 marathons, which is really impressive. Running his fastest of all seven, by 73 seconds is super impressive, but none of this comes even close to Scott’s real story….
The Melbourne Marathon Festival is now not far away! Many runners are in the midst of their training for one of Australia’s biggest and most prestigious marathon events. The finish line at the MCG awaits but first the real work of training has to be done. The few months of running, recovery and planning will be challenging, but there are a few fundamentals that each of us need to stick to, no matter what pace or distance goals are.
Here are five of my top pieces of advice to surviving and flourishing over the next few months before your victory lap around the G’:
We love to share the stories behind our awesome runners, and this one is a treat. This is Trev, who is the first runner that Coach Chris ever coached, and his dad!
Trev is now a spritely 65 years old and has run for recreation and fitness for over 30 years, completing 6 marathons (all of them under 4hrs 15 mins), over 20 half marathons, plus many other shorter races road and trail races. Over a 14 week period, he was coached and prepared for the Great North Run half marathon, which takes place in his home town of Newcastle (UK) in mid September every year.
Sydney Marathon (Marathon 13) was a really tough experience, both on the day and in the week after. I felt like I had lost fitness, re-injured an old achilles problem and gotten very glum in the process of it all. Not ideal.
Fast forward 3 weeks and the 17 marathons fun bus was heading over to Western Australia. This was my first ever trip to W.A and I was travelling there to run Busselton Marathon on Sunday 8 October. Whilst I still had the nagging achilles issue that was stopping me from running, I was grateful to be feeling way more positive in the lead up to this one. I was worried about my ability to complete the run, but positive nevertheless. I was particularly worried when I discovered the day before that I hadn’t actually signed up to the run at all! OOPS!! I am starting to believe that there is such a thing as 'runners brain’…. its a thing….
Last weekend was awesome...
Marathon 12 was back on home turf, running 11 laps around the Tan Track in Melbourne, following some time away for Alice Springs Marathon the previous weekend. I was really pleased with what I had done in Alice Springs and my aim for this marathon was simply to improve on that time of 3:22, only 7 days later. I enjoy the challenge of backing up marathons one week after another and it gives the second run a bit more purpose. I seem to get that little bit more determined to not be slower or fade at all. It’s like a giant 'negative split' I suppose.
On race morning, I had woken up early to the sound of torrential rain and howling wind at about 5 am. Bugger. The thought crossed my mind to just drop the run, eat lots, drink wine and simply reschedule, but the thought of then trying to fit another marathon into the remaining 4 months of the year, persuaded me to get my arse out of bed and get cracking on some coffee and breakfast.
Well its been a while since I wrote last, but marathon 11 is now done and dusted! I’m at the airport in Alice Springs, the sun is shining and I am on my way home, back to Melbourne. I am growing to like this place. This is my second trip here in a couple of months and I am starting to learn my way around, meet new people, see new things and feel a little more comfortable.
The last marathon I ran was Cairns Marathon on 9th July, so this was the longest break so far within the 17 marathons journey. I definitely needed it after nursing myself through 3 marathons in 3 weeks back in June / July.
Even as a running coach, I get frustrated with 'running chat’ at times. As runners, we seem to have developed our own language, which nobody outside of running knows about. This guest post on the Tri Chicks website is designed to help you translate some of the main phrases that you may hear from other runners. Head over to the awesome Tri Chicks website and check out my guest post on this issue.
Happy learning!
What do you think are the main things that stand in the way of getting back into running for new mums?
This guest post with Sheree Brown from the awesome Port Melbourne Physiotherapy and Pilates explores exactly that! Sheree and I explore accountability, motivation, overcoming excuses and how to safely get back into your exercise after giving birth.
Head over to the Port Melbourne Physiotherapy and Pilates website to check out this guest post.
