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Moving

Learning to run is a really big deal

Zoey · January 5, 2016 · 3 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the difference between coaches and athletes. And also about how fast athletes are often great, but you don’t have to be fast to be great. It’s easy to allow imposter complex to get to you:

“I’m not a real runner because . . .” or even “I’m not fit to coach someone that’s faster than me” but once you dig down into that, it’s just not true. The things that make someone a great athlete, won’t necessarily make them a great coach. Because when you are a coach, it’s not about you. It’s about being someone’s belief system, when their own has lost it’s way. It’s about putting a context on outcomes that allow achievements to shine. It’s about being able to look at things from the outside and provide direction. And if you think about the fastest atheletes in the world, all of their coaches are slower than they are.

And these are the things that I hold close to my heart with Learn to Run.

It’s so easy to think it’s so simple. You just get out and run. But it’s not simple and it’s not easy. For some (or most) of us it’s a revolutionary step. And it takes real guts and bravery. It takes a whole lot to get out there and say I deserve this, I am going to be visible and I am going to take up space. Because you know in the process you are taking on all manner of expectations of what women are allowed to look like or be like. Because we all know we aren’t supposed to look unattractive, or red, or sweat. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that you should never not do something because of a fear of how you might look to someone else. But even though you know that, it is a great force of will that propels you out the door.

And when I think about my life as a coach, those are my proudest moments. When someone who is so deeply unaware of what they are capable of and so embarrassed by their body and so scared of what others might think, finds some drive within them and they take that step and I make sure they keep taking those steps until they find themselves. And they challenge expectations and they push past fear and eventually they see what I can see from the outside – that there is absolutely no limit to what they can do.

I know that because I was terrified to walk out the door. I was terrified in the gym. I was terrified running outside. I avoided eye contact, because it was so confronting to be so visible. But I did it. And I think as a coach that was my most valuable experience to know that when people go out on their first run, that is a really big deal. It’s not small, it’s not inconsequential – it’s a dazzling show of strength.

Coaching isn’t about speed, it’s about the ability to really see someone. And that’s what I do. I see you.

You can sign up for Learn to Run today with our 12 week coaching course to take you from the person who wants to love running, to the person who does.

Do you want to start running, prevent injuries and enjoy the process?

If you’d like to read more about Learning to Run, you can check out:

The one question that gets asked the most about Learn to Run

11 Things that Learning to Run will teach you that have nothing to do with running

How to make a diamond

Podcast: How to support a friend who is learning to run

You deserve to take up space

And you can download our participant guide here.

Workout of the Week: The Ladder

Zoey · December 21, 2015 · Leave a Comment

WOW - The Ladder (1)

I have a fun one for you this week! As you move through the workout, there’s more and more easy running. Which is a nice change, right? But it also kind of means that those paces should be getting a whole lot faster as you go through as well. The workout is 30 minutes but there is only fifteen minutes of fast running in there so that should mean you will be able to up the pace a bit!

If you want to challenge yourself, you could reverse it so it gets harder and harder.

Happy running!

Workout of the Week: The Wave

Zoey · December 14, 2015 · Leave a Comment

WOW - The Wave

For this workout the paces are:

Easy (60% effort – light jog)
Steady (70% effort – comfortable but a bit faster than easy)
Tempo (80% effort – comfortably hard but can still speak in short phrases)
Fast (90% effort – hard but still able to run for the entire interval)

The main portion of the run is 25:00 so if that feels a bit too much at your level, then you could reduce the intervals to 3:00 or if you want a longer workout you could do sets.

Happy Running!

If you are enjoying the Workout of the Week, you might enjoy The Total Fitness Challenge which features five workouts (two runs, two strength workouts and one HIIT session) every week.

Workout of the Week: Pyramid Hills

Zoey · December 7, 2015 · Leave a Comment

WOW - Pyramid Hills (1)

What is the difference between a single, a double and a triple hill sprint? Well it looks a bit like this:

Single: 0:30 Hill Sprint, Walk back down
Double: 0:30 Hill Sprint, Downhill Sprint Return, 0:30 Hill Sprint, Walk back down
Triple: 0:30 Hill Sprint, Downhill Sprint Return, 0:30 Hill Sprint, Downhill Sprint Return, 0:30 Hill Sprint, Walk back down

You will get a bit of recovery by sprinting downhill in the double and triples, but not that much, so it’s a very challenging hill workout. If you don’t think you are quite up to that yet you could try alternating single hill sprints with double hill sprints and work up to the pyramid.

Downhill running is a really fantastic workout and it’s often ignored because it doesn’t feel as hard as uphill running. But it is great for developing speed and strength. It will improve your cadence in terms of getting your body used to having a faster foot turnover, it will develop your quads and your hamstrings and it will help your body to feel what it is like to go faster than it thinks it can which is a great muscle memory to develop.

Happy running!

Workout of the Week: Break Through

Zoey · November 30, 2015 · Leave a Comment

WOW - Breakthrough

This week’s workout is all about digging deep and finding some speed when you are fatigued. You want to think of everything as just a bit of an increase in effort –

Easy Running: 70% Effort
Steady Running: 75% effort
Tempo (Aerobic Threshold): 85% effort
Threshold (Anaerobic Threshold): 90% effort
As Fast As You can (Anaerobic Capacity): 95%+

To get an idea of the pacing, if you have a 5k PB of 30:00 the paces would look like this:

Easy: 7:15 min/km
Steady: 6:45 min/km
Tempo: 6:15 min/km
Threshold: 5:45 min/km
Capacity: 5:15 min/km

This will differ for everyone, but it will help to give you an idea. You don’t need to be pedantic about it, just make sure that you are increasing your effort level for each interval.

Happy Running!

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