Hi guys! I’m Charlotte. I’m a psychology graduate, health & wellness blogger and a middle distance runner and the gorgeous Sophie and Ella asked me to write a post about the struggles and successes of being a distance runner. So here it is!

In terms of ‘training years’ as a distance runner, I’m only a baby. I started running in my first year of university 4 years ago – I fell in love with it, and joined the university athletics team in my second year. So I’ve only been properly considering myself a middle distance runner for about 3 years, which isn’t long, but already I don’t know how to live without it.

I often hear that ‘actually starting’ is the hardest thing about doing something new that you’re a bit daunted by. But for me this wasn’t the case. When I decided to get up off the sofa that first evening and go for a run, I had no idea what I was letting myself in for – I wasn’t scared or nervous, I was just excited to move my body and motivated to get fit. The actual hardest part was about 10 minutes later when I was half-way up a very steep hill and realising that ‘going for a run’ wasn’t quite as simple as just ‘going for a run’ – I was going to have to work hard for it. But no matter how much of a struggle those first few runs were, there was something so exhilarating about turning back onto my road after 30 minutes of pain and knowing that I had made it through. It was almost as if all of a sudden I knew that I could do it all again.

And my runs got easier. I actually started to enjoy them! I was so motivated by the feeling of getting to the same point in a route as a previous day and knowing that it felt so much easier to get there than the last time. But at some point, running the same few routes again and again stops getting rewarding and that’s where some external motivation comes in really handy!

The real tipping point for me in terms of falling in love with running was the first time I raced. It was a women-only 10K organised by Nike in Victoria Park, London and it was electric. There were hundreds of girls there, all wearing the same fluorescent orange Nike T-shirt, all raring to go, and I was so overwhelmed by the energy of the start line that I instantly knew this was going to be something I’d want to do again. I’d made myself a playlist specifically for the event and organised it so that the final 10 minutes or so were songs guaranteed to get me through (Kanye West’s ‘Power’ was never so important, let me tell you). But I hardly needed it, all the girls I was running alongside were so supportive, the spectators were amazing and I just remember feeling so proud of myself for getting out of my comfort zone and challenging myself in front of so many other people.

So, my biggest advice for anyone who is new to running is to sign up for a race. Start as small as you like, there are 5K events everywhere and some areas are starting to run weekly 2K events (search ‘Great Run Local’ to see if there is one near you.) Parkrun is also a great place to start (again, Google them, they are literally everywhere!). Parkruns are casual, weekly timed runs that give you the feel for what running a race might be like and they are full of all sorts of runners – there are experienced runners, club runners, first-time runners, children, people who walk it, people who run with their dogs and, at my local one, there is even a man who runs along pushing his baby in a pram in front of him! Each week your time is emailed through to you after the race, along with all sorts of statistics about your position compared to other people (the day I was the fastest female is probably still one of the proudest days of my life). So, pick a race, and use this as motivation to get out a few times a week and work towards making yourself proud on raceday.

So that’s long-term motivation. But what about the motivation to keep putting one foot in front of the other when you’re 6 miles in and you feel like you want to fall down on the pavement and never get up? There are a few things that I try to remember when I ‘hit the wall’ on a run:

A run is a mental battle as well as a physical one

Sometimes, half the battle of a long run is telling my brain that my body is capable of carrying on and that I don’t need to stop. I try to think something along the lines of: “I am not dying, I am not injured and the human body has the capability to withstand a lot more than this. My body can keep going and my brain is making me want to stop because it is being selfish and wants to preserve my immediate wellbeing”. But by postponing my desire for immediate relief, I am making the reward of finally getting to the end even sweeter. Psychologists call this ‘delayed gratification’ – putting off something good so as to receive something even better in the future. And mastering delayed gratification is a massive step in developing the willpower which will help you in numerous aspects of your life. So, this time, don’t listen to your pesky brain!

Breathe

This is something else which can come in really handy in everyday life. When I’ve hit peak stress levels on a run (i.e. ‘I want to stop right now and I cannot take even one more step’), I focus on slowing down my breathing and really feeling each breath come into and then leave my body. This has an overall calming effect on the central nervous system and helps me to keep a clear head to keep on going. It’s also a top coping mechanism when life is getting on top of me too.

Stop thinking about how far you’ve got left to go

Focus on something other than how far you’ve got left. Think about what you’re going to have for dinner, plan an evening out with a friend, or try and remember everything you have to know for that exam – anything which helps you forget that your body is protesting. I have a friend who repeatedly counts from 1 to 7 in her head for the entire of her runs! It sounds boring as anything but it works – she doesn’t think about the distance!

Good feelings are coming

It’s hurting now, but soon it won’t hurt anymore. Soon you’ll be tucked up under a blanket with a hot chocolate and a big bowl of pasta and you’re going to feel amazing. You’re going to be so unbelievably proud of yourself for pushing through and you’re going to feel strong and confident and powerful. In this sense, the way my emotions fluctuate on a run are a great metaphor for the other struggles in my life: there are times when I feel like I can’t go on and I want nothing more than to curl up in a ball on the floor and cry, but better times are coming. Happiness and the relief of getting through a difficult patch are just around the corner.

I hope all of this might help some of you who are new to or are interested in getting into running. The only final thing I can say is to just do it. Just get out there and run. It doesn’t matter how far, or how much you don’t want to do it to begin with, you will never experience a greater reward than being able to look back on the first time you said ‘yes’ to challenging yourself and seeing how far you have come.

Lots of love,

C xxx

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Charlotte Webber

@​MyMuscleMind #StrengthNotStigma

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@MyMuscleMind #StrengthNotStigma