Becoming a runner - thoughts on getting going

Running is the world’s best form of exercise and boasts millions of participants worldwide.

The beauty of running is its simplicity – it can be done just about anywhere by anyone anytime, and at little expense.

Running builds fitness, increases health, promotes a healthy body, improves your state of mind, and makes you more energetic & productive. But this you've probably already heard, read or know.

Running also has the power to rewire your brain, and change your life…setting you on a path, or trail, beyond what you’ve dreamt possible.

So running is a good thing. Starting running can be a challenge: energy, time, past experience, perceptions. Here are some thoughts to color those perceptions...

Become a runner…

Becoming a runner… is about making the decision to start, and letting your feet to the talking and take you on a journey to the future. It isn’t about what you have or haven’t done in the past, nor what you do now.

Becoming a runner… is about moving forward - one foot after the after, step-by-step, breath-by-breath. It’s not about what gear you’ve got, how you look, nor how far or how fast you go.

Becoming a runner… is about doing what you can when you can, and juggling running as a new part of your life – as small or as big as you let it. It isn’t about the ability to focus on a single thing, nor to pretend that the inevitable distractions (and disappointments) of life don’t trip you up.

Becoming a runner... is about getting out the door and, yes, making some effort and taking some time - only to have that energy and quality-time come back more-fold. It’s not about blood, sweat, tears and puking, and reaching the depths of your capacity.

Becoming a runner... is about some is better than none. It isn’t about committing endless hours, running everyday of the week, nor having to keep up with anyone.

To become a runner … you only need the desire to start, a little fire in the belly, and a willingness to share a journey with, alongside, amongst and, and maybe later, against others.

Become a runner. Start running!

6 Keys to Successful New Year Resolutions

A New Year is here. It may be time for a change. Or, time to freshen up. Perhaps try something new. Make some New Year’s resolutions, and follow these keys to improve your ‘stickability’ through 2013.

1. Resolve: Accept that you’ll have good and bad moments and days. You’ll fall off the wagon. Get back on. Resolve to start again this afternoon, or tomorrow. You’re human. Humans make errors. It’s okay. When you repeat the same error then you’ve made a mistake. Giving up at the first or second hurdle is a mistake. Nothing good in life comes easily. Don’t look for short-cuts.
2. Make a Plan: Hope is good thing when it’s in your heart, but can be tough if you’re blinded by it. Habits and routines are at the root of most things you’d like to change – hence your resolution(s). A plan provides direction and guidance. Explore strategies to uncover your routines and habits. Try ways to reinforce new habits when working to break the cycle of past habits. Try a new outlook and new approach to an old resolution. Craziness is often said to be trying to get the same results from the same (unsuccessful) ways.
3. Break it Down: Break your plan into more manageable objectives or goals, and smaller periods of time. Focus upon one or two core elements; many others will then fall into place. Focus for a day, then another; then a week, then another. Aim to progress over time, not all the time.
4. Team Up: Do your homework. Talk with many, follow few. Work with your spouse/partner, coach or mentor, and squad members. Express your resolution as something you ‘want’ to do, not ‘need’ nor ‘have’ to do. You’re more likely to find support when those important to you understand it is something you want to do. Knowing it’s valued; rather than a compulsion or burden helps. If you usually find your own way, it may be time to consider a training partner, a coach or a squad.
5. Make it public: Promise yourself. Write it down. Write a blog. Construct a FB page. Tweet it. Follow up. Yet not every detail every minute every day. The glory is yours. Keep it that way for the most part. And, honestly, no-one really wants to know what you ate for breakfast, how many kilometres you cycled, or what café you’re at right now.
6. Build in success: Reward your progress along the way. Achieve smaller goals with mini steps along your journey. Focus on what you do to achieve each step rather than the final outcome. Graph it, tabulate it, draw it, paint or photograph it. Make a collage. Put it on the fridge. Have a t-shirt made: Front: “I made a resolution…”. Back:  “It wasn’t easy. I showed resolve. Success.”

The Battle...

You've had it.
I've had it.
We've all had it.

Some weeks, it's most days. Some weeks, it's absent. Sometimes, deserts us. Other times, it nags us.

No, no...it's not our partner in life, nor our mother-in-law.

It is 'the battle'. It's the internal dialogue we have while deciding between 'now' or 'later'. It's the conversation we have with ourself about putting the session/run off and getting changed and getting out the door and doing it now. It's the whisper of future guilt if we delay, and don't deliver. It's a measure of the call of the running gods, "go and run". 


The battle nestles comfortably with procrastination. For runners, procrastination is the art and science of delaying the inevitable - vigorous agitation of the body by placing one foot in front of the other, at speed, to bring pleasure, pain and pride. The battle is first-cousin to the 'little voice'.


I battled this morning. I coached. I coffee-d. I sat in my car for 20 mins. Procrastination visited. Guilt rang. I changed running shoes three times. In the end, I went. I ran.


As each of us know, each time we battle, each time we defeat the temptation of 'later', once we have our gear on and are a few minutes into our run (or jog) we wonder what all the fuss was about.


The battle is important. It's important you deal with it there and then. Each battle you win is a tick the running gods place beside your name. Persistence and consistency are key elements to becoming a better (and faster, and wiser) runner. Each battle you win is a check for you in the persistence and consistency columns.

I have this rule. If you begin to battle; begin to consider delaying; begin to re-schedule - simply shut up, and put up. Put your gear on. Get out there. And run. Then.

The battle then is done, and won.
And you did it.