Many conversations. One common theme: Runners Guilt.
Yep, it’s a real thing. People of all shapes and sizes feel guilty for running. Whether you are a busy executive, a shift worker, a student, a stay at home parent or all of the above, runners guilt can stop you getting your running off the ground or keeping up your training routine.
“Why do I feel so guilty when I go for a 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.
Even coaches still benefit from being coached. Whilst they are busy sharing their knowledge with others and helping to structure their training, increase accountability and get results, they too, can do with help from time to time. There are coaches out there who are former athletes, there are coaches who have never been athletes and there are coaches like myself, who still have athletic ambitions. There are plenty of pro’s and cons to each situation, but no matter what a coach' own personal experience in the sport, few coaches would claim that they know it all. In fact, if they do claim to know it all, I would say that they are deluded.
The post race break usually means a quadrupling of our food and alcohol intake (particularly in ‘fat week’), accompanied by plenty of reflections on the race that has gone, discussions about what we enjoyed, where you can improve, and questions about what race might be next. This down time and reflection period is really important. It allows for recovery both mentally and physically, but it usually isn’t long before the ‘What’s next?’ question rears its head… Cue animated predictions, planning sessions and discussions with friends for races that we want to sign up for.
With so many events on the running calendar these days and entry costs going through the roof, it is becoming tricky (and expensive) to decide which event is actually the right event for you.
Lots of runners are keen to do the physical running that forms the bulk of their training, but not so keen to get the right amount of rest and recovery that will actually enable them to run at their best. Unfortunately this is an all too common approach that many recreational runners as they dig themselves into physical holes or repetitive cycles of injury, which could have been avoided through adequate rest and recovery.
Given that we are coaching and running in the ‘endurance sports’ space, the number of hours spent training and the subsequent stress that we on our bodies, is high. As a result, we have got to make sure that we recover adequately and give something back to our bodies.
So what can we do ourselves to help our own recovery?
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?!?
As a running coach, I hear the words, "I’m not a runner” more often than you might think. In fact, it is one of the most common phrases that I hear amongst people getting back into their running or getting started on their running journey for the first time.
As far as I’m concerned, if you run, you are a runner. Whether you are fast or slow, whether you run one minute, once around the block, or one hundred kilometre ultra marathons, you are still a runner.
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.
It’s 5:30 AM. I roll over and think, “I can’t be bothered.”
I’ve got a slight hangover after one too many wines last night, but I’m trying to get back into a routine of exercising regularly. The battle rages in my slightly hazy head.
"Do I get up and run, or do I stay here in bed and potentially feel guilty about it for the rest of the day?"
No movement. No movement in the rest of the house either. Not even the dog wants to go out, and she probably needs to pee more than I do.
"Why is this so difficult? I hate feeling like this. Just get up and go! This was so easy 6 weeks ago!"
"Did I get my shoes and running gear together last night?…. No. Eurgh. It’s too difficult. I’m going to leave it. Oh come on…"
….and so the battle rages until I decide one way or the other. To run or not to run, that is the question.
It’s a rubbish and emotionally exhausting way to start a day, but it’s the way that so many people start theirs. Welcome to unstructured training and time off for the Type A runner! After 6 months of solid training, dedication and commitment, with almost no morning procrastination, now is the time for rest and recharge, but like many runners after their big race, I feel like this.
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.
In Episode 2 of 'The Go Run Show’, I the had the pleasure of chatting to world class ultra / trail Runner, Kellie Emmerson. Here is a runner that does things for the pure love of the sport. She is a coach, brand ambassador on top of being a world class runner and seems to love the role that she can play in helping people to run better.
I chatted to her about her first fun run, her recent trip to the Trail Running World Championships in Portugal where she represented Australia, her diet, training, coaching and pieces of advice that has received in her career so far. I also discover a great motto that she tends to live by and that she (like me!) is a bit of a foodie with a liking for all things chocolate!
I really hope you enjoy this discussion and that you feel like me by the end, that we are very lucky to be part of a community of runners with supportive and engaging people like Kellie as part of it.
ENJOY!
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.
The awesome guys at Nokkon have done a list of 10 things to consider with your running form. This post is number 6 on the list and focuses on one of the least considered areas of running form, I believe, head position.
When we think about running form, head position is often towards the bottom of the list of things we look at, but it is actually very important for our body alignment, as well as our overall attitude.
Head over to the awesome Nokkon website to check out this contribution.
