So it’s bounds to happen at some point. You start of super keen, you hit your stride and then something happens and it suddenly feels hard.

It may be marathon training, it may be healthier eating, it may be good habits such as no screen time before bed.

I’ve been listening to a few podcasts about how to stay motivated and have learnt a few things worth sharing ( I hope).

You may be like me and prone to procrastination. That’s one reason I decided to write a daily blog – to establish a routine and a writing habit otherwise it was always ‘manana’ in respect of capturing my thoughts.

Now procrastination is a physical and mental response to how we deal with feelings and things that make us uncomfortable. So we shy away and delay. For me it’s money management, it’s dealing with family relationships.

It’s a bit of a cliche but I’ve also learnt that ‘leaning into your fears’ is hard but is the way to go. I’ve also learnt that those fears, that irrational anxiety rarely materialises as a thing. Look back and those things you feared never happened.

I’ve also learnt there are two main types of motivation.

Extrinsic motivation is driven by a desire to be valued, rewarded and recognised. When it comes to running for me it is about the bling, it is about PBs, it is about being hired as a Coach.

Extrinsic motivation does work. It does drive you. It does make you go for a run at 5am, in the dark and in the cold. And at the end of that race it all feels good. But extrinsic motivation can also have a limit because it is tied to outcomes.

I worked my socks off for nearly 18 months to go ‘sub4 ‘ at a marathon, and once that was achieved my motivation to train dropped significantly. Setting a new target of 3 hours 50 minutes wasn’t enough and throughout 2022 the motivation wasn’t deep enough, wasn’t hard enough to keep me interested. Yes I trained but something was missing.

This got me into thinking about the other form of motivation, which is called Intrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is different because it comes from within, from gaining personal satisfaction for doing your thing, and not requiring that reward as an outcome.

I’m not so good at intrinsic motivation. I think because my health journey was motivated by an outcome – losing weight or running faster.

But I’m trying to embrace this different form of motivation. Running (and training) because it gets me outside, because it helps me clear my head, because I’m in nature. And if I’m consistent and don’t put pressure on each and every run then the outcomes will take care of themselves ( I hope) .

So next time your motivation wanes ( and it will at some point) stop and think about your why? It may be uncomfortable to see yourself as that person chasing ‘outcomes’ but if you can balance that with a different purpose then the malaise won’t last long. If you do something just for the enjoyment we are hard wired to chase that pleasure and you will.

Sorry for the long post.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

First up, whatever happened to episode #994 – no one told me I messed up my numbering yesterday.

The 2023 version of the London Marathon was only a month ago but the autumn marathon training season is already upon us. And so it’s been a busy few days writing and reviewing training plans for my clients.

There are lots, and I mean LOTS of free plans on the internet, often written by marathon gurus, and celebrity runners who partner up with sponsors to the big races such as the World Majors.

And therefore the choice can seem daunting. How many weeks should I train, how many days should I run, what kind of intensity must those runs be at, what’s the weekly mileage, etc, etc.

If you are just beginning your marathon journey the chances are you have no idea what the answers to those questions should be in order to optimise your training. Even if you’ve run a few 26.2 miles it may still seem a bit of a mystery of what works and why?

Now as an Endurance Coach you would expect me to be extolling the virtues of having a tailored, bespoke training plan. One that reflects YOUR running experience, makes adjustments for YOUR work and family life, and is based on achieving YOUR goals and objectives for that specific training block.

Either route can lead to success.

The key thing is that the next 16-18 weeks will need to have focus and structure – this is what any plan needs to do.

The plan doesnt’t run itself so you, as the runner, needs motivation and discipline.

Training won’t be linear and therefore you (and the plan) needs to have flexibility to deal with what life throws at you.

The training and therefore the plan needs to have a little variety as running the same old training run will be boring and won’t build progression.

Whilst a good plan builds purpose into every run, also remember training needs to be fun so build that in too. If you need to run 10 miles on Sunday why not enter a race and take home a medal and tee shirt for your efforts (just remember to run it easy!)

So fail to have a plan and you are already planning to fail.

Good luck, and if you’d like a chat about a bespoke plan contact me at alan@arbafitness.com

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

I’m about to head down a rabbit hole and this post is in danger of becoming a rant. And it’s all to do with running shorts, and in particular men’s running shorts, and in particular men’s black running shorts. I also need to declare that I’m colour blind so may influence my opinions below (🤣🤣)

I don’t want to start gender wars but the larger manufacturers of sports wear seem to make very distinct decisions about colour ways when it comes to designing for women and men.

In my early days of running, and being an oversized runner, I guess I was grateful for having shorts and tee shirts in my size. But then I started to notice something. All the pretty coloured shoes were in the female range.

I’m a shoe size 12 so always accept they may not have ‘the pretty ones’ in my size but for me it was black, blue and maybe something with a splash of yellow. I just accepted that as normal.

And as my running journey continued and I wanted to ‘upgrade’ to proper running shorts (instead of my Adidas football shorts) I noticed I had a choice of 80% black, 19.2% blue and 0.8% other, which inevitably was out of stock.

I get the economics and I get that men, more generally, are less fashion conscious so creating a swathe of different colour patterns and colours probably only hurts the bottom line.

But I’m sure there are lots of male runners that want like to express their personality through what they wear on their runs.

Things are getting better. There are smaller, more niche brands producing a range of funky patterns and colours. However , it seems that in order to express yourself in Lycra you have to dig a little bit deeper in your pockets.

That’s ok for me but doesn’t work for everyone. So come on Nike, New Balance and ASICS – splash those colours for both genders!

Cool Runnings

Alan

Postscript: I love a pair of white running shoes – they certainly pop in race day photos

Rest is recovery, and recovery is rest. But that doesn’t apply when you’ve just committed to writing a daily blog for the next three years.

Here is a little bit of irony. Monday is seen as the start of the week, lots of training plans work on a traditional seven day cycle, and when coupled with the idea that we need to start the week as we mean to go on I’m nearly always conflicted on a Monday morning.

Why? Because Sunday is my normal long, slow run day, and at the height of marathon training probably means I’ve finished the week at 40 plus miles. So I feel tired physically and emotionally.

Yet having Monday as a ‘rest day’ feels wrong. It feels like a wasted opportunity to get some early miles on your weekly Strava. It feels like I should be embracing the recovery run that many ‘experts’ advise.

But rest and recovery doesn’t need to equate to doing nowt. You can still be active but just dial down the intensity.

Walking is active recovery. Swimming is low intensity (and good for your cardio). Zumba and other forms of dance exercise are just good fun.

For me, Monday is becoming one of my resistance days. Not a resistance to any form of exercise , but instead becoming a day to focus on strength and conditioning.

Nothing to heavy, nothing too long. 45-50 minutes of working muscle groups that are not engaged routinely as a runner, working on engaging those muscles that help running form and efficiency. All done with a Rich Roll podcast on in the background.

It leaves me with the dopamine hit, feeling like I’ve achieved but also rested enough to look forward to whatever’s on the plan for Tuesday.

How do you make the most of rest / recovery days?

If you’re not sure how to start strength training head over to YouTube and The Essex Plodder and look up my video of basic moves to help your running .

Cool Runnings

Alan

It’s race day morning which means I can write about race day rituals such as breakfast options, toilet habits and shoe choices. There’s lots of them.

But I’m going to strip it all back to basics and talk about the virtues of the safety pin.

If you are running an organised race the chances are it’s been advertised as a ‘chipped’ race which means your time will be tracked from your race bib via some clever GPS technology. The race bib also has your race number on it, possibly your name and maybe even the size of a finishers tee shirt ( if that’s part of the goodies on offer at the finish.

And now the tricky decisions begin – how to attach your race bib to your person. Many race organisers supply you with safety pins for this purpose, and for beginners this reduces race day stress a little by removing one (of many) key decisions you’ll be expected to make.

However, if you just purchased a new ‘go faster’ running vest do you really want to pierce the garment and leave tiny little holes in your top. Probably not.

So Ive gone off in search of better solutions.

I’ve tried press studs – they tend to ‘un-press’ too easily as it’s damn hard to press through your shirt and your race bib without destroying your thumbs.

I’ve tried magnets – but they tend to stick to anything and any one and I’ve found that after a quick ‘hello hug’ I’m a magnet down with a flappy bib.

So after trial and many errors I’m back with the safety pins – keeping it simple. Ideally with 4 safety pins in each corner but solid options exist for 3 pins, and it’s also possible to get to away with just 2 without too much flap.

Decisions don’t end there on race day because where is the best place to pin your bib. The obvious choice says chest ( and 90% of runners go for this option) because it’s how the race day photographers capture your efforts.

Some cool kids go for on your shorts. I quite like this ( but I’m now wearing shorts that are more expensive than my tops and it’s back to the pin hole problem). And finally, and very rarely, you may see a bib pinned on the back. This option needs careful planning as it cannot be a last minute thing, waiting on the start line, unless you have very long arms and can contort your body through 180 degrees.

So there you have it – who would’ve thought a simple safety pin could hold the key to a successful race day.

Cool Runnings

Alan

It’s Saturday morning . It’s not even 6am so I guess I’m gonna have to write about parkrun each week on this day ( especially as I vlog about my parkrun adventures too – check out The Essex Plodder on YouTube).

It’s fair to say that over the last few months I’ve had a love / hate relationship with parkrun. Towards the back of 2022 I feel out of love with running. But parkrun each week kept me running and for that I’m grateful.

Since then I’ve worked hard to be consistent and found other ways to enjoy running, for example, every run is an opportunity to learn by listening to some of my favourite podcasts.

But now come Saturday the tension and anxiety returns. Stupid I know because parkrun is not a race but parkrun, in my early days of running, was a measure of my progress. First sub 30 mins, first top 100 finish, new course record , etc, etc.

And in the last few months, as I’ve tried to ‘get back on the horse’ parkrun has been an opportunity to again measure that progress.

However, this time those little wins seem few and far between, and getting to the end of 5K has become a mental battle. All those previous successes now feel like a mill stone when I can’t quite hit the time and or deliver against expectations. Maybe it’s Father Time, maybe it’s the effects of covid ( and running a marathon 10 days after testing positive), maybe it’s none of those things. But too me the result matters and I know that’s not how to view things.

Please don’t get me wrong. The last 12 months or so have been an absolute parkrun blast. I’ve visited nearly 60 different locations, travelled and run parkrun in 5 other countries, ‘invented’ extreme parkrun and most importantly of all, made new running friends. So using The Balanced Scorecard approach, parkrun has been and will continue to be a huge positive in my life.

And it’s a cliche but so true, you know your a runner when you get up earlier on a Saturday than you do for work.

Time to find that postcode, Thames Pathway Parkrun here I come.

Cool Runnings

Alan

If you run you are a runner. If you walk you are a runner. It’s not the act of actually running that makes you a runner – it’s attitude, it’s action, it’s accountability.

I’m sure lots of us have come across runners and running clubs where your actual mile per minute pace labels you as either a runner or a non-runner.

8 minute miles seems to be the cut off 🤣

Anything slower and your a shuffler, verging on a non-runner. And to be honest if you aspire to be in that club good luck to you. I’m not seeking to denigrate faster runners, it’s probably in your DNA or your genes or something.

But a lot of BS is written, especially in ‘marathon season’ about whether it’s ok to walk. Worse still , have you really run a marathon if you stopped to walk in places. And I say how ridiculous is that kind of statement.

In an age of obesity, Type 2 diabetes in the young and modern conveniences taking all the hard work out of life, let’s celebrate everyone that takes action.

THIS is why I love parkrun. It is a celebration of action, it’s a celebration of community. Run it , walk it , skip it – who cares!

Your welcome 🤣

Cool Runnings

Alan

Wow, that looks good – only 2 years and 269 days to go..

It’s Mental Health Awareness week here in the UK. So let’s discusss the benefits of running naked.

No, not that kind of naked. I mean ‘tech free’. If you’re like me data, metrics and ratios are the fruits of your daily labour. A 30 minute run can produce enough numbers to fill up the rest of your day with analysis.

When those numbers look good that can be truly satisfying. But if you’re like me and you have rubbish runs too, that same data can drive anxiety.

Why was I slower today? Why was my heart rate faster? Why did my relative effort seem too high?

But why does that matter?

Being outside, topping up your vitamin D, experiencing nature, and just being on your feet and moving sometimes is just enough. Let your brain produce and consume those ‘happy hormones’. It will feel good and you won’t be worrying about your average mile pace.

Try it and tell me what you think.

Cool Runnings

Alan

Good start I’m back for day 2. Now the pressure of what to write. Socks, gotta be about socks.

Running is not a cheap sport despite what commentators may say. It starts with new trainers and ends up with the six world majors and a flight itinerary that beggars belief.

So if you take just one piece of advice from this blog (hopefully across 1001 posts there may be a few nuggets) it is to invest in some decent socks. Supermarket sports socks have there place but not on a 12 mile long slow run in the middle of summer.

Compression if you can because it’s all about the blood flow. Your bank account will not thank you but your toes will.

Bright, bold color ways are a must. For us male runners who have the choice of black or blue for our running shorts, the choice of socks is an area where we can express our emotions and creativity.

If it helps the brand CEP are a favorite – expensive but never let me down.

Cool Runnings

Alan

So I’ve tried writing carefully crafted, thoughtful pieces that engage thought and discussion. The problem with this approach is that it requires thought and discussion from me.

I’m also inherently lazy and the idea of crafting 500 words or more is just the reason to procrastinate. Hence my blog posts have been few and far between.

So time to try a different approach.

This time a short daily post. Aimed at providing simple advice. Consistent, every day and effortless ( I hope).

So here goes.

Parkrun is your friend. It connects you, it engages you, it fulfils you and it means you’ve been awesome all before 10am on a Saturday morning.

Look up your nearest parkrun at http://www.parkrun.org and be bold and head to the park ready for your ‘first timers’ briefing. Not too many rules – basically follow the person in front. And don’t take home the finisher tokens.

Run, enjoy and join thousands of disciples – because you will get hooked. Parkrun tourism is a post for another day.

Cool Runnings

Alan