5 Painful Truths For Runners

Sometimes I think about the runner I’d be today if I accepted these HARD truths the day I started training for my first half marathon back in 2011. But, that’s life. So let's learn together.

Some of these took me way too long to fully accept and it hurt my running for years. Injuries that could have been avoided, running plateaus that lasted way too long, miserable long runs and anxiety over races. You name it, I’ve been there & felt it.

5 Painful (but good) truths I’ve learned about running:

1. Nobody cares about your pace and that’s a good thing. Normalize telling people your paces without “slow” or “fast” before them. Normalize easy paces and hard runs that you finished.

2. Being skinny doesn’t automatically make someone a good runner. So stop comparing runners body’s to your own.

3. Rest and recovery is more important than you think. So many told me this but I just didn’t believe it. Now that I’ve been injuries many times, ran over by my car, and pregnant three times I know exactly what they’re talking about. Your body deserves to rest and recover.

4. Bad runs are part of the process. They suck but they have to happen. Just don’t get stuck on them. Take time to learn from there and then that’s where your growth happens.

5. The distance you run doesn’t qualify you as a runner. A marathoner is no more than a runner than one who runs 5ks. You don’t need to waste your time comparing your mileage to someone else. It doesn’t matter, just run what makes you happy.

Moral of the story: Do what makes you be and feel the best runner you can be and enjoy all the miles. We need to stop overthinking the simple act of running sometimes. It's just like the journey of life - bad days are bound to happen, low motivation will happen, and it's a wild ride.

Happy running,

Kelly

Running Goals & How to ACTUALLY Achieve Them

2022 is right around the corner and while I'm not a huge fan of "New Year Resolutions," I am a fan of setting realistic goals for the year.

When it comes to running, there's always so much peer pressure of doing all the races, Boston Qualifying, or running farther than you've ever gone before. If these are goals, GREAT! But, if these don't resonate with you don't waste your time saying they are your personal goal and then setting yourself up for failure.

Running goals that aren't pace or mileage related: staying consistent, adding in more strength training, improving your running form and cadence.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. What are your running goals (overall, not year specific)?
   

2. Which one(s) can I realistically achieve in one year?
   

3. What is my reason for achieving this goal?
   

The key is to be specific with your goal & reasons. "I want to run more" isn't going to cut it. Try "My goal for 2022 is to run 5x each week."

Now that you know your goals, shift your focus to this question:

1. What is needed from me to achieve this goal?
   

Form an action plan. Create habits & routines that support your goal. Your mind doesn't see the overall goal and know exactly what to do so you need to focus on these small systems, habits, and routine to achieve your goal.

On a daily basis, Ask yourself when faced with a decision: Will this help me achieve my goal of ____? A quick yes or no is a great way to stay connected to your goal and your why. If your goal is to run in the mornings, staying up to 2am watching shows is an easy way NOT to achieve that goal. Start acting like the morning runner now. Be who you want to be NOW & build the daily systems around that.

The first image is the order of the steps you take when setting your goals. The second image is the order of IMPORTANCE for achieving your goals.

I believe in you! Your dreams should scare you a little bit but focusing on the small habits and routines will make them achievable.

Happy running,

Kelly

New Treadmill Workout & Finding Your Minimum with Running

I uploaded a new treadmill workout! This one is a fun one & great for marathon runners or those training for their first marathon. My weekly running schedule is 80% of runs easy effort and 20% moderate-hard effort. This means if you are running 4x a week, you should keep 3 of those runs easy and 1 run a 'running workout' or 'quality session.' For your running workout day, try this workout either at the track, outside, or on the treadmill:

Warm up (easy effort) for 5-15 minutes

4x800m repeats with 2 minutes recovery in between

*the 800m repeats should be run within the time you want your marathon time to be. Example: If you're shooting for a 4:30 finish time for the marathon, try and run the 800m in 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

Cool down (easy effort) for 5-15 minutes

This workout is called the "Yasso 800s" because the professional runner, Bart Yasso, swears by this workout.

Up the mileage with this workout and do more of a warm up and cool down. The closer you get to your marathon, add more reps in for more mileage too. Shooting for 4-10 reps is great for building your endurance and getting in the mindset of your goal marathon finish time.

Run with me here:

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During this workout, I talk a little bit about a recent podcast I was on that focused on finding the time to run being a mom. This podcast conversation can be helpful for any runner who has other priorities/responsibilities outside of running and you need help finding the time and motivation to get runs in.

After running for close to a decade through college, marriage, three pregnancies and postpartum stages, working full-time, and life in general - here are my tips:

Find Your Minimum

Here’s your permission slip: You don’t always have to be doing the most. ✨Whether it’s life becoming too stressful with other responsibilities or you are just burnt out, you don’t have to cut running out of your life completely to be successful. Find your minimum and make it work for you.

3 ways to find your running minimum:

1. Pick 3 days when you can get in 20+ minutes of movement in a week and stick to those., Forget the rest. Don’t get too caught up with having to workout everyday or getting in every single training run. You can still workout and build endurance without running all the time so do what makes you happy! Give yourself a couple days a week where you don’t have to run but still get in a little workout to get some endorphins and strength going in other areas!

2. Run/walk intervals. If you’re lacking motivation and are burnt out from running, try run/walk intervals if you still want to get mileage in. Give yourself set times like run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes and get through your run that way.

3. Stop posting your runs on social media. WHAT!? I can’t believe she just said this. I DID. If you are short on time or stressed out about the run in general, stop spending your time posting about your run. There’s no need to take the perfect picture and write the perfect caption after a run if you have other things and responsibilities to do like reflect on your run/mindset, get going to ___, etc. I also want to point out that when you list out your responsibilities, YOU should be on the list. Your mindset and overall well-being is your responsibility and should be handled as such.

I hope these tips help you when you burnt out or trying to find the time to run!

Happy running,

Kelly