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Can you resist the siren song of the run streak?

November 3, 2017 //  by Zoey//  Leave a Comment

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We get to this time of year, and most people are looking to change up their routine a bit. You’ve got months before any serious training kicks in, you’ve probably got an intense fear of losing fitness and you’ve got the threat of all the end of year festivities to well and truly throw you out of all the good habits and routines that you’ve built up over the year.

Enter the run streak.

The run streak is awesome for a few reasons:

  • It’s so much easier to create habits when you are doing things every, single day.
  • You can increase your weekly distance without actually increasing the length of your individual runs
  • It can be great for motivation
  • And, if you are doing it with a friend you can keep yourself accountable.

But it’s not without its weak points either. The number one risk is injury. Whether it’s because you are running while fatigued, or pushing through a run when you aren’t feeling well, or you just aren’t recovering well enough between runs.

How to minimise the risk of your run streak;

  • Firstly, make sure the vast majority of your runs are super easy. You aren’t going to get the recovery time you need for high intensity runs.
  • Always prioritise your health and wellbeing over your run streak. If you feel sick, rest. If you feel fatigued, rest.
  • Only increase your overall distance a little bit at a time.

The biggest risk of the running streak, isn’t about injury at all.

For me, the biggest risk of a run streak is that I will outrun my joy in it. That every day will make it seem more like a chore, than something I choose. It will start to feel boring, because I don’t have the variety of a more structured training plan that I enjoy. Nurturing my relationship with running is the most important thing. Part of that relationship is feeling like I’m getting the most out of my hard work: and that happens when my running fits my big picture goals and is more strategic in focus. That is personal to me though, and you might find at the end of the year a run streak is just the kind of thing that you need to reconnect with what you love about running, run short, run long, run often and run without being dictated a pace or a session or a roadmap.

Just remember it’s your joy that matters, not your run streak.

 

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Category: MovingTag: injury prevention, run streaks

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Zoey Dowling || Running Coach
It's a thing right? You start off so well, and the It's a thing right? You start off so well, and then things just kind of fade bit by bit and then all at once.

This is definitely the number one thing people talk to me about when they start Learn to Run.

In this episode of the podcast I'm talking about why this happens and what you can do to be rocking that new habit of yours many months into the future. And somewhere in there I wander into getting a bit vulnerable about quitting alcohol.

I apologise for the audio quality. I can't use my podcast microphone because the kids have stolen my mouse. Trust me, the two things are connected. 

{link in bio or podcast on your favourite podcast app}
It’s all about the story you tell yourself. Th It’s all about the story you tell yourself. 

This morning I got up early enough, but I had a coffee, sorted out some intro stuff for a new run club member and had another coffee, played with the cat. 

I could have said something negative to myself about how I’m incapable of getting out the door without an epic level of procrastination but instead I said ‘enjoy these late starts while you still can with holidays’. 

I drove down to where I was running and it was quite warm (no surprises!) I could have talked myself out of the workout, or told myself off for leaving it so late, or told myself how much it was going to suck because it was hot and humid. Instead I said to myself ‘this is good, muscles will be nice and warm for fast running. Heat doesn’t slow you down when the workout is under 30 minutes.’

At a certain point there was some construction on the footpath and I had to pause to go around. I could have said ‘this workout doesn’t count because I’ve had to pause in the middle of it’ but instead I said, ‘you’ve had a bit of extra recovery - you can blast through these last two intervals’

Tell yourself a good story, and you’ll believe it.
Beginnings are liberating, if you allow them to be Beginnings are liberating, if you allow them to be. New newsletter now out. You can check it out and subscribe via the link in the bio.
It can be tempting to think new is better, when of It can be tempting to think new is better, when often it’s just new. 

Easy to do this with training too! When results are slow coming and improvements seem incremental or flat - the immediate gratification part of your brain wants to change EVERYTHING. Which leads to two problems one is a lack of consistency which is what is going to lead to where you want to go. And worse, even if some things do improve if you’ve changed ten things you can’t possibly know what worked. 

There is a place for making changes, and testing out things one at a time. But not if it’s because really you are just looking for a short cut or a magic bullet: there isn’t one. 

I’ve absolutely been guilty of this with shoes! Always looking for the perfect easy run/long run shoe even though I already found it. This time instead of trying out something new I bought a new pair of my old faithfuls and am reminded that the only thing I need to do is pray they never stop making them.
I might be biased but the best part of yoga is the I might be biased but the best part of yoga is the nap at the end.
The biggest mindset shift I had was a few years ag The biggest mindset shift I had was a few years ago. 

I love running, so I never thought of it as a punishment, but I did think of food as a reward. Some of it is so ingrained. Do hard things - get your metaphorical cookie at the end. Your prize! 

And you know for most of us I don’t think it’s about food at all! It’s just how our parents expressed love and care when we were little and it’s socially often how we celebrate. I still remember the special meals I got made when I was sick, or the breakfast that was made for me during HSC exams. 

You can forget it’s not the food that is the reward, it’s the connection to people who love you. 

Anyway I was about 6 months or so into nutrition coaching and I had my lightbulb moment: how can something be a reward if it makes me feel like crap and takes me away from my goals? So that day I celebrated by buying new shoes instead of a doughnut 😜

But like everyone, I slip back into old habits when things are stressful and I forget those things I learned. 

It’s good to be reminded that rewarding my body is about feeling good everyday, not just in a moment.
When you aren’t quite sold on this whole back to When you aren’t quite sold on this whole back to work business yet. 

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🌟 Write down daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly and long term tasks, this helps to make room for all the things, not just the immediate ones. 

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🌟 Do schedule things that are for you like running or lifting or yoga or wherever it is. You are important too, not just the things you do
For every husband who has ever looked at the activ For every husband who has ever looked at the activewear collection and wistfully said ‘but when will they make stuff for men?’ 

PRAYERS ANSWERED! Thank you @runfastergear
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Rarely any of those things are times or PBs, but without them, you wouldn’t get some of those parts of the experience that you do hold close. 

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Breakfast of champions 💜 Breakfast of champions 💜
Oh hello #podcast world, I am back! And in this ep Oh hello #podcast world, I am back! And in this episode I'm talking about how to set yourself up for a positive mindset when you are looking at any changes you might like to do this year and importantly how there are so many things that you can work on to make it easier on yourself that are outside of the I did it vs I didn't do it domain. 

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{on your favourite podcast app or link in bio}
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Could have used some flippers out there for my tem Could have used some flippers out there for my tempo run this morning!

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Struggle with hills? Start with a really gentle incline or do 8 second efforts to start with. 

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Hate intervals? Start with 30m, take loads of recovery. 

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Nothing should happen before coffee but sometimes Nothing should happen before coffee but sometimes Deadlift day and mid-week long run do! 

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You always feel like you’ve gotten off on the ri You always feel like you’ve gotten off on the right foot when your Monday starts with a run. Even when you are running in humidity soup.

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I don’t know about you but I often don’t notic I don’t know about you but I often don’t notice I’m out of shape until I’m about 6 months down the road. 

You add in COVID and a 2 month injury and it’s not surprising. 

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Received a cue of: feel your hip flexor release

Me: How we laughed, my hip flexor hasn’t released since 2010.
I was asked about Learn to Run and I poured my hea I was asked about Learn to Run and I poured my heart into what I wrote in the hope that whoever reads this might take a chance on becoming who they were always meant to be.

Learn to Run starts on the 18th January.

opmove.com/blog {or link in bio}
Who doesn’t like going out with a bang? We had Who doesn’t like going out with a bang? 

We had King Kong at the gym this morning which is 3 rounds of 1 *really* heavy deadlift, 2 muscle up progressions, 3 heavy power cleans and 4 handstand push up progressions (for me that’s pike push ups). 

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Your inner voice is something you often don’t think about. It can be hyper critical or even cruel but it can also be a great encourager and tell you what you need to hear. It’s usually an amalgamation of your parents voices, your teachers, people you’ve internalised. 

But you get to change it too. Your coach can also become part of your inner voice which is why it’s such an amazing thing.
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