You are where you are and that's a great place to start.
When I start coaching people, I often say to them "You are where you are and that's a great place to start." Its a reminder to people that they can't rush the process of changing their body, and that they need to be honest with themselves about whatever their starting point is.
When Sera approached me to start our '5 weeks to 5km' Training Plan recently, she was the one playing these words back to me.
I coached Sera to do New York Marathon a couple of years ago…
10 Road Marathons To Train For in 2021
It’s around that time of year where we start signing off from work and thinking about the year that is to come. This year, despite all of the tough times, is no exception. In fact, perhaps more so than ever, us runners are looking forward to getting back to racing, back to consistent training routines and less threat of race cancellations due to natural disasters or global pandemics. Judging from race directors and the increase in advertising for races around Australia, there is now more confidence than at any point over the last 6 months, that we will get races going ahead in 2021.
Learnings from the pain cave – ultra running and mindset
It is inevitable and expected with endurance sport that at some point things will turn ugly. I’m using this in the context of ultramarathon events when I’ve been on my feet for over 6 hours and everything is becoming increasingly uncomfortable and both physical and mental fatigue are taking their toll. Also referred to as the pain cave. I’m no stranger to the pain cave. I’ve completed a number of tough ultra races on both road and trail. This hasn’t made it any easier as all races bring different experiences and thus one of the weird and wonderful reasons we keep coming back for more!
Your Progress is in Your Hands.
“There’s no such thing as bad weather, only poor clothing choices.”
If you are in Victoria, Australia you will have experienced the arctic blast that crossed the state last week. As if we haven’t already faced enough challenges to our training this year, now we seem to have been hit with a very early taste of winter. So how do you get yourself motivated and out running safely in these conditions? We thought we would jot down a few tips!
Want to keep running long term? Up your mental and recovery game
A couple of weeks ago, we published a blog looking at what we think are the most important considerations when you are starting out on your running journey. However, as we know, getting started is just half the battle. Keeping running is often the more challenging half of the equation. when we start to look at your overall trajectory, and keeping you active in the longer term, certain things become more important, two of which are recovery and mental resilience.
The Broken Ankle, the Marathon and the Turtle: Sarah's Story
Sarah has come back to running after a full ankle reconstruction and has continued to push her own boundaries in terms of distances, times and her own image of herself as a runner. A self-confessed and named ‘Turtle,’ she loves the trails and the trail running community. In this blog she writes in her own words about her journey of taking up running, through to completing a marathon and tackling an ultra marathon in 2019. Thank you so much to Sarah for contributing this story. This one is for all the turtles out there…
Navigating the Long Road Back to Running: Tim's Story
So many runners get injured through overtraining and have to then tread the delicate balance of coming back from injury, managing volume and intensity and also changing their mindset to their training. Tim was one of those runners who managed to navigate his way back and ended up surpassing all of his expectations both with his running but also his triathlon. Here is his story and some of the lessons that he learnt along the way. Thanks to Tim for sharing this with us…
Changing Life Direction - Debs' Journey to Running
Getting back into running after kids. Sheree's Story.
After having two kids, Sheree was ready to get back into running long distances. With her sights set on a half marathon, Sheree enlisted Chris as her Coach to help her gradually build up her distance and speed, and keep her accountable to her training. Now she’s set herself another challenge – to run 2020km in 2020 – and she wants others to join in! Here is her runner story…
Different Marathons, Different Approaches to Strength Training.
Why CEO's find the time to run...
Have you seen those videos and pictures of Barack Obama playing basketball with friends and college players? I remember looking at them and thinking A. Wow! He’s actually pretty decent and B. How the **** does he find the time to do that?!?!? He’s the President of the United States!! Not only that, but every morning when in Washington, Obama hits the gym between 7:30 and 8:30, alternating cardio days and weights days.* Impressive, right?
This last couple of weeks, I have noticed so many people talking about how little time they have to run. It has brought back memories of a cringe-worthy conversation that I had with a CEO, when I lived in Belgium 6 years ago. I was chatting to the CEO of one of the biggest hospital trusts in England about her running......
Comparison is the devil...
Comparison is the devil. Well, maybe that's a bit extreme, but I rarely find comparisons helpful in my line of work.
When I raise the issue of comparison with people you often see wry smiles and subtle nodding of heads. Everybody does it but yet most people feel worse because of it. The problem is that its addictive. We can’t help ourselves!
Forget perfection, try evolution.
What does the ‘perfect’ runner look like? I hear this question being discussed every so often in magazines, online forums or occasionally over coffee after our Saturday morning 5km parkrun. Particularly if you are relatively new to running, you might be interested and might even be in awe of those runners who seem to have the perfect build, legs, speed,or effortless look to them as they glide around the track or along the bike path. It all adds to the slight insecurities we might have about not being a ‘real runner.’