What would you ask a professional athlete?
In April, I asked the runners at Go Run a question:
“If you had the opportunity to chat to a professional athlete, what questions would you ask them?”
I had an awesome response, with some great questions. I think as recreational athletes we are often fascinated by the habits and lives of professionals. How many hours do they train? Do they do strength training? Who are their idols? What do they eat? Do they drink alcohol?
It’s not very often you get the opportunity to chat to professional sports people and ask these types of questions, so when Vanessa Murray, a professional Ironman triathlete from New Zealand agreed to sit down at the end of April and chat with me over a juicy burger in Albert Park, I was really excited!
Vanessa is a beginner in the professional Ironman game but has started off with a bang! Last weekend she came 4th pro female in Challenge Taiwan and in early March came 10th pro female at Ironman New Zealand, running a 3:24 marathon in the process. She is coached by Xavier Coppock at TEAM Tri Coaching and lives in Melbourne with her fiancé Shaun.
I chatted to her about her triathlon beginnings, how her running has improved from 2 hour half marathon to 3:24 marathon, and what particular foods she enjoys most after training (a favourite topic of mine!) Thanks for the questions guys, here is our chat….. Enjoy!
"Do you think I need a training plan?"
Training plans are a hot topic amongst athletes and runners in particular. As a coach I provide personalised training plans for my runners and I also answer my fair share of questions about training plans from friends, family and other runners. In fact, I was asked this seemingly simple question by a beginner runner in an email a couple of weeks ago:
"Do you think I need a training plan?”
She was looking to improve her 5km time over the coming months and was weighing up whether a training plan would work for her. At first this seems like a no-brainer for a running coach to answer. Yes. Simple. But actually it is nowhere near as easy as that. I wish!
Go Run Australia is still young, but even in this first year, I have noticed a few things about who responds best to training plans and who is sometimes better off doing their own thing. I have no problems with either way. I have plenty of close friends who would never dream of getting a running coach and are improving and enjoying their running regardless. For others, with the help of a coach, they have improved beyond what they thought possible and are getting the personal best times that they were after. It is a very individual thing.
One of those people who is continuing to go from strength to strength with the help of a training plan is Sally. When I asked her what she thought of her Go Run training plan, she said,
“Loving it! Structure and routine is great for me and being accountable to someone. I don't have to think or stress about my training plan now!”
For me, as a runner I have personally made greater progress than I thought possible with the help of a coach and a tailored, individual training plan. There is no way I would have been able to complete 2 Ironmans, 2 half Ironmans, get half marathon and marathon PB’s in the last 2 years without it.
So what can I genuinely, honestly advise people who are asking this question,"Do I need a training plan?”
Why are we so confused and frustrated with our running?
A couple of weeks ago I got an email from a really nice guy living on the outskirts of Melbourne. He was looking for a running coach to help him with his running. We were talking about his goals and training over email and with his permission, I have given you part of the actual email correspondence that we had. Check out his confusion….
"That's one of my problems at the moment, goals! SO MANY OF THEM! So my own training is in disarray. I don't know whether to knock back and hit a 5-6 month patch of Maffetone running. Then there's Matt Fitzgerald banging on about 80/20 running! But on the other hand, we all want to go fast...and I KNOW i'm capable of going sub 3:30 over 42.2 and would LOVE to have a crack at a BQ, but for me thats a 3hr 05 marathon, which, well, yeah, I can't see that happening. Basically, I think I've read way too much and now I have all these ideas in my head, but have no idea what's best for me."
WOW! That’s a lot of goals, a lot of different methods and a lot of confusion to deal with. Trust me, I can really sympathise with this. It was not so long ago that my head was in this exact space. It is a complete nightmare. You don’t know where to turn, who to believe, what method or technique to try, what magazine or blog to read, what race to sign up to. It sucks! The sad thing is that this thought process is actually pretty normal amongst runners and is not exclusive to beginner runners at all.
So where does our confusion stem from?
Are my shin splints frustrating? "**** yes!!"
A few weeks ago when I asked people what the number one challenge for beginner runners was, several people responded with injuries of various types. Amongst the most popular (wrong word, I know!) was the dreaded shin splints. As I promised at the time, I will be following up on your responses and getting opinion and expertise to help us overcome these challenges for beginner runners. So, I asked Sally Maple from Port Melbourne Physio and Pilates to give me some expert advice on shin splints, what they are, why they occur and how we can treat them. Here goes….
So what are shin splints?
“I’ve fallen out of love with it” - What to do when you hit a parkrun rut.
It’s probably not a very politically correct thing to say, but yes sometimes you can fall out of love with parkrun. Having done over 100 parkruns, I can very safely say that the vast majority have been hugely enjoyable experiences and I would not trade my Saturday morning jaunt around the lake for much else. I have dressed up, ran with no shoes, come first, come last, plateaued, PB’ed, paced people, raced people and most things between! However, like many parkrunners, there have been times when my motivation has dipped and you sometimes just fall out of love with it for a while. Now, I am not a doctor but I am going to diagnose this as 'hitting a parkrun rut.'
So when this awful ‘rut' strikes, what can you do?!?
Don’t panic, here’s my three tips to get yourself out of a parkrun rut.
"I had to go longer and harder and faster every time"
A few weeks ago I decided to reach out to the running community and ask a simple question that I needed help answering. I posted the following question on the Go Run Australia Facebook page and could not believe the response that it got.
What is / was your #1 single, biggest challenge when you started running?
Now we’ve all been there as beginners, even some of the fastest runners you know probably began with those awkward, embarrassing first runs / walks and suffered from the same things that we do, but even with that in mind, i did not expect people of all experiences, shapes, sizes, abilities, ages to contribute to this debate. I don’t know what I expected to be honest, but certainly not the detail and emotive comment that I got back. The responses really shocked me in to action and I want to try and address the issues that were raised over the coming weeks and months in my blogs. My hope is that these blogs will be able to help a few people in their own running journey whether they are just getting started, starting again or are seasoned veterans.
Today I am going to address the issue of wanting to go longer, harder and faster every time you run. This topic was prompted by Ruby, who said...
"For me (the number one challenge..) was the idea that I had to go longer and harder and faster every time. As soon as I was fit enough to run for 20 minutes I'd push for 30, then 40 the next week and so on, unsurprisingly I got injured and fatigued and decided that was a sign I just wasn't meant to be a runner."
"Just trust the process"
We all question our training at one point or another. As a coach, one of my roles is to make sure that runners can look back on their training, be proud, see progress and gain confidence from it. One of my favourite phrases in this regard is,
"Just trust the process"
In this interview I chat to Sally who recently ran a half marathon personal best time, knocking 4 minutes off her previous time. She talks about how we managed her injury concerns, how she found it difficult to run slowly in her training runs at first and she talks us through what it feels like when you know your time is going to be a good one! I love Sally's story. To me, she is a great runner and a pleasure to work with because she learns, adapts and isn't scared of a challenge! Enjoy!
Are you ready to run? If the answer is "YES!" then sign up here for your own running coach and personalised monthly training plan to get you running stronger, longer and faster. I will get in touch straight away and we can begin working on getting your running to where you really want it to be!
"But I don’t look like a runner"
I hear this phrase quite a lot, particularly from those who are relatively new to running or lacking a bit of confidence. It is usually said in the same sentence as “but I’m not a runner.” This (as you are about to find out) frustrates me! I believe that if you run, you are a runner, you can be a good runner and you should think of yourself as one, no matter what your shape or size.
I think part of the problem is that we are led to believe there is a certain shape that we should all be aspiring to look like in order to become the perfect runner. Yeah sure, the guys and girls who are in the top 10 finishers of the marathon are usually pretty much the same shape (small, skinny, run / fly effortlessly and weigh about 50kgs) but after that, the similarities end. I know guys who are 90+ kilos and run a 3 hour marathon and well as girls who are 5 feet tall and run a sub 20 minute 5km. Go figure.
Most of us are not in that elite category of runners and training for the upcoming Rio Olympics, nor will we ever be, so why do we need to adopt the same shape, weight, height, cadence and posture as these guys? The answer is that we don’t.
The 19 races that were sat in my trash folder...
It would appear that we are in 'race promotion season’ at the moment as I have received emails detailing no less that 19 different races or running festivals, urging me to sign up and run. So, in order to save you the hassle of trawling through your inbox and trash folder to find out about these races over the coming months, I have done it for you….
From Injury to 5km PB!
Returning from injury is not easy. It can be frustrating, annoying and tests our patience to the limit. It was great to chat to Jane recently about how she has gone from serious injury to 5km personal best times by training consistently. I loved this quote in particular...
"The first few weeks were hard, but you just have to get out there and do it!
Jane has come back from a stress fracture in her foot, to running with confidence again and smashing personal best times at her local parkrun in Melbourne! Jane talks me through what she thinks of her Go Run training plan and how she keeps consistently training despite lots of travel with her work, by telling herself to " just get out there and do it." She also shares some of the awesome events that she is considering for 2016. Enjoy!
Are you ready to run? If the answer is "YES!" then sign up here for your own running coach and personalised monthly training plan to get you running stronger, longer and faster. I will get in touch straight away and we can begin working on getting your running to where you really want it to be!
" ...and then #FlywithGus was all over Facebook”
This week I met a woman of true awesomeness for lunch (yes awesomeness is a word). I love meeting up with Leigh. I always come away with something random to research, a new book to read, a new run to try, a new restaurant to visit and usually a headache after drinking one too many long black coffees.
I think Leigh and I have similar approaches to our running. Yes, there is a competitive element which we both relish, but there is a release, a calm and an element of self development that comes with running, which we truly enjoy. I met Leigh through my local parkrun (Albert Melbourne parkrun) and she has been a great supporter to me as I set up Go Run. She was actually the first person to ever wear a Go Run running t-shirt! Over the past couple of years, I have watched her 5km times tumble, her friendship group grow and her running horizons expand, whilst also watching her go through a lot with the illness of her son, Gus.
Gus passed away at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne a week after last years 'Run for the Kids' event. Whilst at RCH, Gus spent time in several different wards, ICU for 3 months, Sugar Glider for 6 months and his final 2 months in Kelpie. He was a much loved patient and constantly astounded everyone with his good humour and resilience at every turn. Gus, Leigh and their family were exposed to many carers - doctors, nurses and just about every type of allied health worker. They cared for Gus as if he was their own child. They doted over him and appreciated every small milestone of his treatment as well as consistently showing generosity of spirit, selflessness and tenderness over many months. All of this helped Gus, Leigh and their family through the darkest parts of their hospital experience.
The 2016 'Run for the Kids' is now only a couple of months away and Leigh is on a mission to raise $20,000 for the Royal Children’s Hospital, because of the extraordinary care the staff provided to her son in 2014 and 2015. Under the banner of ‘Fly with Gus,’ the #flywithgus hashtag is now all over Facebook and their story is in the Herald Sun and on the Run for the Kids website. There are now 30 runners who have joined the #flywithgus team to run the 16km course and it looks as though this number is going to keep growing. Whilst a ‘Leigh on a roll’ is a force to be reckoned with, I think even she has been surprised with the generosity of her running friends and the wider running community. Over our lunch, the phrases “but they didn’t need to do that” or “and I barely know him/her” kept on cropping up as examples of generous runners who are now supporting the #flywithgus cause in one way or another.
"There's no way I can run 5k!"
I have heard this quote from lots of runners when they first start running...
"There's no way I can run 5k!"
In this interview I chat to Maddie who also uttered those words at one point. Maddie talks to me about how she went from "the girl who can't run" at school, and not running even 3 years ago, to a marathon personal best time at Melbourne Marathon in October 2015. I find Maddie's story inspirational and I loved hearing about how she overcame some of the stresses associated with running and in particular the question of "what are people going to think of me?" in her most recent marathon. Enjoy!
Are you ready to run? If the answer is "YES!" then sign up here for your own running coach and personalised monthly training plan to get you running stronger, longer and faster. I will get in touch straight away and we can begin working on getting your running to where you really want it to be!
"What will people think of me?” Recognising the real fears of real runners
In my last blog I wrote about getting goosebumps when trying to choose the right event for 2016. I got an amazing response to this blog and even had one of the Go Runners suggest that the idea of a first marathon gave her goosebumps and that we start working towards that as a new goal. AWESOME!!
Before we all get carried away, it is important to recognise that goosebumps are just the start… Now the tough stuff starts. Time to overcome all of those real but hidden fears that we put in the way of ourselves when training for these events. This blog is about recognising those fears.
Even as a coach, I am not somehow immune to these fears. In fact, I am one of those people that wants to be good at something before they try it. This means that if i don’t think i will be good at it, I either don’t do it, or it takes A LOT of persuasion to get me to try. This has been the case with numerous sports, from swimming as a kid, through to pilates as an adult, even my running has required a lot of work on this front. My mum will tell anyone who cares to listen about my swimming lessons as a kid and how much I hated them, because I wanted to be able to swim already. I don’t remember those very well (selective memory perhaps??) but I do remember signing up to train with a local football team in the UK one summer and being so petrified of going to training that I pretended to be sick, hid upstairs and refused to leave the house. Now, lets get one thing very clear. I loved my football. I played all day and watched it most evenings.
So why the drama?
I was absolutely petrified of not being good enough and of what people might think of me.
I can’t even dismiss this fear as being something that I only had as a kid, because I still care what people think. I remember it took almost a year of persuading and waiting for me to try pilates, which I now love. I remember putting off my first parkrun in Melbourne for weeks, whilst my wife, Kathryn went, raved about it and met some of the best friends we have ever had. I have now done over 100 parkruns. I have no doubt that I am getting better but Kathryn keeps telling me that I still care too much about what other people think. I am a work in progress…..aren’t we all?
Over the past three months I have been doing a lot of listening to the runners I coach and others, hoping to understand more about some of the fears that exist for real people around their running. I have heard stories that really do make me sad. Fears like...
"I just want to get fit and stop getting injured"
I hear this phrase from runners all the time...
"I just want to get fit and stop getting injured."
Particularly at this time of year, we have a tendency to go too hard into a new fitness routine, too soon. There is no quicker way to undo all of your hard work, than getting injured, and trust me, getting injured sucks! The mere thought of it was enough to persuade me to do a short 5 minute video talking to Physiotherapist Sally Maple about running injuries and how to prevent them. I ask her about areas to watch out for and stretches and exercises to help keep you injury free.
Click below!