I suspect some of you furled your foreheads or squeezed your face inwards when you read the title of this article—I kind of did too when I saw the words "casual 10 mile run day" on an unnamed runners Instagram post.
Actually, I scoffed in exasperation but also smiled in delight.
The post was from a person, who literally has been running for 2000+ *consecutive* days. The fact that he can use the words "10 miles" (~16 kilometres) and "casual" in the same sentence is astonishing. Not to mention his incredibly fast pace time, faster than I can run even at half that distance.
Another post I read before (or maybe after, I forget), was a story a friend of mine posted. An elite runner and running coach.
His name is Garrett. This guy is no ordinary runner, he’s a super-runer, one of Ottawa’s best. He finished first place in the 5K Ottawa Race Weekend one year, then shortly after (same year I wanna say) ran an ultramarathon.
I remember seeing his ultramarathon post and thinking "holy crap, a sprinter AND a long distance runner?" while I was happy for him, part of me ceded defeat a bit to the theory / idea that some people just have that "runner’s gene" while other’s don’t.
The last time I went to see him, was sometime last spring I think. I told him I was there to rehab my torn meniscus knee, and get better at distance running so I could once and for all (after 10+ years of casual but consistent running), conquer the marathon.
Garrett knows his stuff. He’s worked with some of the best (Ray Zahab to name one). The thing that always stood out to me with Garrett, and that sets him apart, was his philosophical approach. Since I only visit him infrequently, we usually start with an orientation session where we discuss my goals and recent running + life history. No matter what the goals are though, the common theme he circles back to every time is one’s mental health impacts / influences on those goals. He spends a lot of time discussing the interconnectedness between your headspace, running / recovery goals, and injury causes + healing time.
At first, I agreed no doubt but I felt like I needed more specifics to address *my* problems. After the end of our last session though, the stuff he was saying finally clicked. Sure, the physio stuff was good, but that meant peanuts in the broader scheme of things. What clicked for me that day was that my mental attitude was the only *real* barrier. I’m *not* talking about mind over matter here, but rather mindfulness and equanimity.
Garrett always expressed his ideas in a relaxed and relatable manner. Despite having logged exponentially more running hours than I had, and being a reputable and legit elite runner—he never made me feel belittled. We were on equal planes, just two runners. Instead, he used his experience and knowledge (as a runner, coach, and chiropractor) to express his utmost confidence in his beliefs that we ALL have the ability to run to great lengths. All we have to do is *believe* and *actually* try. Try as in, *do*.
I already had everything I needed, it was right there for the taking. The only thing missing was a renewed committed determination to stick to it, and a strong discipline + perseverance to see it through. You can’t just talk the talk, at some point you have to walk the talk (or I guess in this case run the talk).
Another thing I always appreciated from G., was his super casual approach on "how" to run faster and longer. He would ultimately tell me it didn’t matter what I did. What mattered was that I did the running, and as often as possible—as often as is possible in the physical, mental, and circumstantial senses. Physical as in, not beyond your ability. Mental as in, if you can find the mental bandwidth. And circumstantially as in, life can be hectic, sometimes that means you just can’t find the time or energy to run—and that’s OK.
Despite only having a few encounters with him, Garrett taught me how to run *smarter*.
Until this past year, I always ran too fast. I would push myself, beyond my abilities. A "feel the burn", "no pain no gain", and "againts all odds and regardless of all consequences" sort of attitude. That attitude and approach to running, was inevitably my recurring demise to a new or regressed injury.
The months that followed my last appointment with Garrett, were all sorts of new running routines and regiments I tried. Some weeks I was consistent, others not. Some weeks I would incorporate long runs, others not. I would sometimes run a steady pace, and other times variable paces. Some days were "split" run days (a long distance divided over more than one run). Some runs were late at night (not fun), and others as early as 4 AM.
As a result, I was slowly but progressively ramping up the miles, and my knee was getting stronger just by virtue of committing to running *often*. The only consistency was not caring beyond just "running" and having fun with it, and being content with steadily running more and more every week, no matter what that looked like.
The more running I did / do, the more mentally fit I feel. Staying mentally fit has always been my principal reason for running, it’s the one thing I can rely on to balance everything out in my life.
I’m happy to say that running has never been more enjoyable since that last encounter with Garrett and training for the marathon. The last thing I’ll say that ties into the post I read this morning and Garrett’s philosophy, is the 80/20 rule I uncovered while training. To me, it’s been revelatory—it has been the difference between painstaking runs and effortless joyful running. You run slower but longer, and you gain strength, speed, and endurance / stamina while doing it.
I’m now running exponentially more than I ever have before (30–42 kilometres a week on average), and I’ve never felt stronger. I am running at least every other day, and I always look forward to my next "gamified" run (more on that in another post).
So what’s the takeaway? The takeaway is "have fun", and just "go", as in "do it". Don’t overthink the how, just slap a smile on, throw on some sneakers (or don’t), and go for a run already!
Doesn’t matter so much as how, what matters is just doing it. Doing it in a way that feels right and works for you. And challenge yourself! Have fun with running, gamify it (speaking of which, I remember one of Garrett’s posts about drawing a card from a deck that would determine your running distance for the day).
Push your envelope, set goals, but don’t overdo it either—be smart. Don’t let your ambitious goals become your next injury, lay off the gas when you feel an oncoming injury, and listen to your body. Learn how to differentiate soreness and fatigue from injury and have no shame to adapt your run or schedule according to what your body is telling you. Above I mentioned "mind over matter" vs "mindfulness"—this is what I meant. They’re two very different things. Mind over matter is a fool’s errand. Be wise and consider the impacts. Unless you’re in a race, avoid any "grin and bear it"—not only is it highly unnecessary, it’s counter-productive too.
Thanks to all the influencers in this post, you inspired me to write this and more importantly—run a 10-miler, "on a whim".
The question to ask isn’t why, but rather why not?