Running through your wall: A guide to breaking the mental barriers of running
Gold Coast Marathon
With the Gold Coast Marathon coming up in two weeks, I am sure some of you are thinking:
“Why would any sane person want to run 21/42km, who would do that to themselves?!” or
“I wish I could run like that.”
You already know I am not a Personal Trainer or exercise scientist; rather I am a fellow running enthusiast using my Psychology degree, to enable my clients to alter their mindset, focus on the positives and set goals to allow them to reach their full potential and take advantage of the abundance life has to offer!
I am one of the lucky ones, I inherited long running legs from my Mum, who was an athlete, and fortunately my Poppy is an athletic trainer. So growing up I got all the technical training and drills (and I guess the genetics)… However this blog is me handing down some tips I have learnt on the way - how to defeat that little voice in your head telling you, you can’t do it!
mum
1) Mastering the Mindset
Most long distance runners know defeating that ‘little voice’ is half the battle. Your mind is your most active component when it comes to running; your ego will tap out before your body will. During your run, do you find yourself saying “only 2 more songs” or working out how much you have done in comparison to how much you have to go?
Remind yourself this: As long as you’re breathing, your body will continue to go. That is why it is called aerobic or cardio exercise – your body just needs your heart pumping to deliver oxygen to your working muscles.
Aerobic exercise encourages the heart and breathing rate to increase in a way that can be sustained for the exercise session; your body is designed to do this. So don’t buy into what that little devil in your head is saying, keep running, your body has got this!
2) Just keep breathing
Like I said – cardio is all about the breath and this is where most people struggle. Do you panic hearing yourself get out of breath? It’s for this exact reason I rarely run/train with other people in fear they are not in control of their breath – I can hear when they become flustered and panic, struggling with their inconsistent breaths, which can cause me to struggle to stay in sync with my own breath.
I have taught many of my friends and clients this: slow down your breath.
To be honest, this is my number 1 trick. When you’re in control of your breath, you become in the flow, you are able to run with ease for kilometres without becoming overwhelmed, having to think or count down the KM’s – you can just be. For me, I breathe in through my nose, out through my mouth for long and slow breaths, ensuring my muscles are getting the maximum oxygen they can, to fuel my beautiful, long beach runs.
It may sound simple yet so many struggle with this. A good trick is to take yoga classes! Yoga teaches you to become aware, focus and control your breath, even when holding poses that cause your heart rate to skyrocket, yoga is able to teach you to find ease, stillness and peace in the discomfort.
3) Update Your Inner Dialogue
The truth is change is unfamiliar, it takes effort and requires us to leave our comfort zone, and understandably people unconsciously only move towards situations that make us feel better.
Consequently, we only make changes when the pain of staying where we are, exceeds the pain of growing. Unfortunately, even if we don't like where we currently are, what we are doing or who we are with, if moving forward or the fear of the unknown feels worse, often we will remain in our familiar discomfort and neglect our goals and dreams.
So I ask you… do you really want to run? What about it is going to make you feel better?
Explore your narrative, what thoughts do you associate with running?
Are you telling yourself it will be embarrassing if someone sees you running?
Are you telling yourself that you will be too exhausted to go for a run after a long day at work?
Are you telling yourself it’s too cold and raining outside?
Are you focusing on all the times you’ve said you’re going to train and work up to it and didn’t follow through?
Are you thinking of all the other things you have to do and that you won’t have the time to run for an hour?
If this sounds like your story – it makes sense that you struggle to take action.
So — let’s write a new chapter...
Small shifts in your thoughts create big shifts in your behavior.
Try shifting to:
“Running after work is my secret weapon to rebooting my energy and releasing those endorphins”
“I will feel really f-ing proud of myself if I get up and start kicking my own goals, rather than just talking about it and worrying about what others may think”
“I have been sitting inside rugged up staring at a computer screen for 8 hours, I can’t wait to get outside amongst nature, warm myself up and feel the fresh air upon my face”
“I struggled in the past, but this time I’ve got a revived outlook, enthusiasm and motivation for creating the life I want and doing things I say I want to do.”
“I am so excited to have one hour to myself out of my busy day, one hour to treat myself, focus on my breath, clear my mind and be present”
You get to choose the thoughts that are in your head. Write a fresh story, one that motivates, enthuses and excites you to get moving and make changes.
4) Spice it up! Make it fun!
Mix it up. Download some new songs or make a playlist of all your old school favourites! I love the sunrise over the ocean so that’s my motivation for getting up for my run in the morning. Mix up your routes, go exploring, run to your favourite look out! Even use some healthy competition, download an app where you can monitor your pace and try beat your last run.
5) Create a Community of Support
Humans are social beings who thrive on meaningful connection. Successful treatment or rehabilitation for any mental or physical condition relies on utilizing a support network. So, if you are trying to create a healthy lifestyle, form healthy habits or run those longer distances, get a friend on board! Set goals together, register for an event or a marathon so you have something to train and aim for, join a running group or hire a personal trainer.
Surround yourself with like-minded people who will inspire and motivate you, who will hold you accountable to the changes you say your are going to make, people who will remind you of your "why". Whether it is following inspirational people on your social media, family, friends, an online forum or a life coach, the support you need is out there. Go find it!
6) Be Smart: Create a foolproof environment
If you have decided running is something you want to do/ be better at/is a goal you want to work towards, you need to be smart about planning for success. When we are planning to make changes in our lives, we often over-estimate our ability to practice self-control by not accounting for influences of our environment.
You don't want to eat junk food? Don't have them in your home. You don’t want to drink?
Don’t go to the club. Clean out your environment, and likewise be deliberate in building yourself a supportive environment. This may be something as simple as putting your phone on charge on the other side of the room to ensure you wake up and go for you run first thing in the morning, before you find yourself scrolling down on your insta/facebook feed for an hour.
Or even packing your runners in your bag so after work you don’t have to go home before you go for a run, preventing the opportunity to get comfortable on the couch! I do things like purposely organising or leaving my car places so if I need it, I have to run back there!
Put as much distance as you can between you and your temptations for unwanted behaviour.
It may not always have to be this way, but in the early stages of building change, be smart, honest and kind to yourself. You're not super human, we all have our kryptonite (mine is cookie dough oooops), so don’t put yourself in situations where you have to be so strong. Give yourself a safety net.
If you want to stop wishing you could run like those fit people on your insta feed and actually run like that or if you want to stick it to that little voice in your head and prove you can do it… try some of these little tricks….AND RUN FOREST, RUN!
