Running can be tough, not just on our bodies, but on our emotions and psyche.
This is especially true whenever we experience any perceived setback; injuries, a rough workout or a less than desired performance in a race.
We all talk to ourselves, whether we’re aware of it or not, but many people don’t realize that this self-talk actually affects our performance. This is both good and bad, depending on the type of self-talk in which we engage ourselves.
If we habitually beat ourselves up after a setback, this can become detrimental to our running. On the other hand, if we use more positive self-talk, even after a setback, we can recover from it that much better.
Evie Serventi, a competitive runner and swimmer, is the Deputy Editor of Running Fitness magazine in the UK and is also a Sports Psychologist.
In this episode, she talks to us about the importance of Mental Training and shares with us techniques that she recommends for training our brains to help us run better and to not sabotage the effort we put into our physical conditioning.
As you will hear, Evie and I have a wonderfully close relationship. She has been a tremendous resource for me and I think you will come away with actionable steps that will get your brain and body working more effectively together.
4:40 Tina’s Big Announcement
7:05 Evie’s Big Announcement
10:10 Will running be a part of it?
12:08 How did you become Deputy Editor for Running Fitness Magazine?
16:33 How did you get into sports psychology?
19:47 What advice would you give to someone who, later in life, is considering making a big career change or going back to school for something new?
22:00 What about the refugee group you’re working with?
28:57 Why be kind to yourself vs. being tough on yourself?
34:26 What does ‘Be Kind To Yourself” actually mean?
35:26 Should someone work on this prior to a race or can someone start doing it once they are racing?
38:11 How can people start putting these “Mental Bottles” into practice?
42:14 How do you avoid letting ‘being kind to yourself’ turn into just making excuses?
45:04 What’s a good exercise for people to start with?
48:32 What other mental strategies would you suggest for those thinking that they are struggling in various ways.
52:27 What are your future plans, website, other info?
55:05 Are you still taking on new clients?
59:13 The Final Kick Round
“Run your own race; control what you can control.”
“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
“If you want to do something, you find a way.”
“The risk, though with (motivating yourself via) negative emotions, or feeling angry, even if you feel that they’re positive at the time, is that they’re generally not sustainable.”
“Self-talk is part of your mental training.”
“There IS a lot you can control about your own performance and your own actions. You can’t control the weather, you can’t control the amount of runners, the speed of the other runners. But what you CAN control is your attitude and the way you approach the run.”
“Keeping a diary of what you’re thinking, during a run, after a run / post-run thoughts, can often be quite revealing and help you in terms of “Where do I start? I’m not confident and I don’t feel like I’ve got the mental toughness to do this race.”
“Ask other people; observe what other people who you think have mental toughness do. How do they train? What do they wear? What sort of statements do they say? What sort of language are they using?”
Want more awesome interviews and advice? Subscribe to our iTunes channel
[bctt tweet="Learn tips from @tinamuir sports psychologist on this weeks podcast" username="Runners_Connect"]
Fast Feet Forward
Fast Feet Forward (FFF) is a pilot research study lead by Dr Ana Draper for Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust in collaboration with Virtual Schools Kent and a small local charity, Kent Kindness. The study involves a sport-based early intervention trauma group protocol for unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) who now live in Kent. The idea behind the intervention is to coach a group of young (male) asylum seekers through a series of running drills and fast feet movements to help them process trauma - trauma which they may have experienced back in their country of origin, on their journey to the UK, and ongoing trauma as a result of the stressful immigration process taking place.
RTTT Podcast: Katy Sherratt - The Power of Running to Overcome Homelessness
Email Tina for daily check in questions tina@runnersconnect.net
Saucony Triumph Shoes Use coupon code TINA for 10% off
We really hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top.
The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use.
If more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, it means I can reach out to and get through to the top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!
Sleep Illiteracy? Sleep Education? Sleep Management? Is it really a big deal? We’ve all been sleeping our entire lives, but do we even think about sleep correctly?
Luke Gupta graduated from the University of Bath with a B.Sc in Sport and Exercise Science and completed an M.Sc in Exercise Physiology at Loughborough University. Currently, Luke is conducting a part-time PhD Studentship into Sleep and Athletic Performance in collaboration with the English Institute of Sport.
He worked with some of the Rio Olympians across many different sports on their sleep habits. In this episode, Luke shares with us what his research and experience has shown him about how the function and significance of sleep in an athlete's life.
The way Luke talks about ‘sleep’, it sounds like an actual entity with it’s own set of rules.
For those of us who have spent many nights waiting anxiously for sleep to overtake our racing minds, he may not be far off. How can people who have difficulty falling asleep learn these rules and thus manipulate them to our advantage?
Listen as Luke decodes the inner workings of sleep, confronts myths that have permeated our ‘understanding’ of sleep and gives us all practical methods for getting all the sleep we’ll ever need.
3:30 How did you get into your current field and position?
6:05 Has your experience reaffirmed that this is the area you want to focus on?
6:51 What does your job look like? What are some of your favorite parts of working with athletes regarding sleep and performance?
9:05 How did you help the Rio Olympians optimize their sleep for their competitions?
11:12 What differences did you see between the different types of sports / athletes?
15:01 Does all this apply to recreational athletes as well as Elite Athletes?
17:05 What are some common myths about sleep and can you debunk them?
18:40 How does anyone know what their optimal amount of sleep is?
22:45 What if someone gets up unusually early, say for a 4:00 a.m. flight; what should they do to catch back up on their sleep?
24:45 Other myths you’d like to bust?
26:46 What has your researched uncovered about how sleep affects changes to performance, motivation and physiology?
31:12 What are some of the things that you’ve found help people fall asleep?
34:17 If someone’s mind won’t shut down when they’re trying to fall asleep, what should they do?
38:13 What are the pros and cons of using sleep aids?
43:18 Other suggested sleep aids or behavioral sleep aids?
45:04 How can we avoid psyching ourselves out while waiting to fall asleep?
47:17 Based on your research, how close is the correlation to sleep and performance?
50:53 What should someone do to manage anxiety the night before a race?
54:03 Do you have any planned research we can keep up to date with?
58:40 The Final Kick Round
“My research recently found that there’s big differences between sports and how the athletes sleep and perceive sleep.”
“Listen to your body.”
“Sleep is quite an automated process in that if you’ve had a bad night’s sleep one night, the next night’s sleep will, more likely than not, be that much better given the opportunity. That’s just how sleep works.”
“You can’t just say if you’ve had a bad night’s sleep you’re going to perform poorly.”
“The way sleep works is: the longer you stay awake, the sleepier you feel.”
“When you try to do anything with sleep, that’s when it tends to go wrong.”
Dr. James Maas on Run To The Top podcast
Dr. James Maas Pillow - Bed Bath & Beyond
Consumer Reports - Blue Blocking Glasses
Luke's research published in Sports Medicine journal
http://tinamuir.com/sleep-therapist/
RunnersConnect Extra Kick Daily Podcast
We really hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top.
The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use.
If more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, it means I can reach out to and get through to the top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!
--
Thank you to our sponsors for supporting Run to the Top
Enter to win a FREE 6-Pack of Perfect Amino from BodyHealth
Use coupon code TINA for 10% off at Saucony.com
Haven’t we all, at one time or another, struggled with getting new activities to become more permanent?
Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and fellow Podcaster, shares her research with us on how to create lasting habits.
And because no single strategy works for everyone, she dove deeper into different personality types and how they can use their inherent predispositions to their advantage.
She also discussed the challenges different personalities traits have so we can be aware of avoiding potential roadblocks.
In her studies, she identified 4 general personality types: Upholders, Questioners, Obligers and Rebels.
A link to her quiz is included below so you can learn how you may be able to make long-term positive changes in your own life.
She also touches on simple strategies we can all add into our daily routines to be happier people, how to avoid getting off track once the rush of completing a major goal wears off, and shares examples she has come across with other runners that are extremely helpful.
Many of us are still in a New Year, New You mindset and this episode provides powerful ideas to make sure that we stay on track with the goals we have set for ourselves, not just in the near-term, but for as long as we really want.
4:19 Why should people focus on personal improvement?
5:36 What are some examples of easy, significant changes someone can make?
8:34 What are the 4 Tendencies you refer to in your books?
11:33 Besides Upholders, how can runners who fall into the other Tendencies work with their strengths to achieve their running goals?
18:08 Are there any dangers with being an Upholder that they should look out for?
20:30 How does social media play into these different Tendencies?
24:31 What is the Danger Of A Finish Line?
27:25 What would you suggest to help people avoid Finish Line Dangers?
30:00 Could you swap related activities for specific activities during a recovery period?
31:26 How do you stay mentally engaged when your fastest running days are behind you?
33:47 Do people need to take a temporary clean break without a goal or does it vary by Tendency?
36:24 What if people still feel something is missing after achieving a goal, even if they have replaced the key activities related to that goal?
37:55 What advice do you have to help people avoid Seasonal Affective Disorder?
41:38 The Final Kick Round
If there’s something that you could do pretty easily that’s going to give you a big happiness boost, wouldn’t you want to do that?
(Regarding Questioners): They tend to love data and reporting, so things like monitoring how far they’re going or what their time is, keeping records. Really figure it out, whatever it would take to make that decision because while you’re not sure it’s going to block your way because you’re going to be sort of stuck... but once you decide then you can do it.
(Regarding Obligers): If you’re an obliger you need ‘Outer Accountability’, you could work out with a trainer, you could join a running group where people are going to be annoyed if you don’t show up.
(Regarding Rebels): They can do anything the WANT to do. The idea of a structured schedule, something that is very appealing to an Upholder, it’s a big turn-off for a Rebel.
(Regarding Upholders): Upholders sometimes suffer from ‘tightening’ and this is when the ‘rules’ get tighter and tighter… Sometimes it can feel choking. If you feel like it’s sort of over-mastering you, you want to be aware that this is a phenomenon that Upholders can experience and you want to stay in control of it.
Hitting a goal is a great way to hit a goal; it’s not a great way to keep a habit, because habits are usually things that we want to do indefinitely. It’s more helpful to think of a milestone. It’s a 30-day Yoga Challenge, but what are you doing on Day 34?
To be happy you have to think about feeling good, feeling bad, feeling right in an atmosphere of growth.
What if triathlons (or 70.3’s) weren’t as intimidating as they may appear?
What if, as a successful long distance runner, you already possessed a unique advantage over athletes in the other disciplines?
And what if, you could become a successful triathlete, or even just improve your running, without a significant increase in training hours by training more efficiently?
Rob Wilby is a professional triathlon coach based in England, where he is head coach at both Team Oxygenaddict and Knutsford Triathlon Club.
He specialises in helping age group triathletes rapidly improve, by focussing on maximising the effectiveness of training time and addressing their biggest performance limiters.
Over the last 20 years, he has helped hundreds of athletes exceed their expectations, from completing their first triathlon through to qualifying for the World Championships.
Rob provides great insight on the world of triathlons and 70.3’s and breaks down some perceived resistances that may prevent runners from entering these events.
He’s a fellow podcaster and has wonderful tips on training, coaching and having a successful mindset to enjoy what may be a new experience for runners.
If you’ve ever wanted to pursue a triathlon, but felt intimidated, Rob has great advice to help you get started. If you have never even considered triathlons, Rob’s training perspective can help you increase your running performance by leveraging cross-discipline training.
3:55 What is team Oxygenaddict?
5:55 How did you end up giving yourself a year to get ready for your first triathlon as opposed to waiting until the last minute?
8:19 Where did the name “Oxygenaddict” come from?
9:30 What are the brand advertising limitations for triathlon kits?
11:30 What’s your backstory?
17:59 What’s the percentage of people transitioning to triathlons are runners and what would you say to someone considering a transition to let them know they have support from the rest of the triathlon community?
22:48 What would you say about the difference between just running vs. running right after cycling?
25:20 Do you see triathletes of all levels (especially novices) competing?
28:11 What would you say to people who are 4-5 hour marathoners; is there an opportunity for them in the world of triathlon?
29:53 Do you have to like all 3 disciplines?
33:23 Do triathletes typically have 3 separate coaches for each discipline?
35:31 How does one train for a triathlon without it completely taking over their life?
40:57 As a coach, do you worry about recreational / mid-pack athletes burning out from overtraining?
43:36 What is your swim analysis?
48:21 Is there a general best swim form or are there a variety of good forms?
49:57 Do you breathe one side or both?
51:42 Any additional swim-form tips?
53:15 Is it more likely that a fit runner who thinks they’re not a good swimmer has bad form than that they’re not fit enough?
54:48 What about open-water swimming vs. indoor pool?
57:05 Good brands of entry-level bikes and wetsuits?
58:46 What is your podcast about?
1:02:52 Final Kick Round
“I’ve never come across anybody who’s elitist or snobbish at all at any of the events that I’ve been to.”
“Without a doubt, the people who make the strongest athletes in triathlon come from a running background.”
“You’ll see a massive variety of people at these events.”
“(By training for a triathlon) ...you’ve consistently run for 12 weeks without getting injured, you’ve done all this hard work on the bike without getting injured, your body’s had a different stimulus without getting injured, and all of a sudden the result of that is, it turns out, you’ve got out of your own way and you’ve developed a different way of training that’s going to allow you to get even faster on the run.”
“You can let the sport take up as much of your life or as little of your life as you like.”
“I’m probably doing about half the training I was before, and I’m still getting 99% of the benefit of it. So, almost I wondered how little training I could do and still be fit for racing.”
“You need to build your ability to train before you can train.”
“(Runners are) already aerobically very fit, and the reason they can’t swim quickly is because of a skill-based problem not because of a fitness based problem.”
“The key to swimming better is to improve your technique. Practice good technique and get fit as a byproduct of simply practicing good technique rather than trying to get fit and thinking that your technique will improve.”
The journey of losing weight is not easy.
Anyone who has tried to lose weight in the past knows that all too well, but our guest today not only shares his struggles with using food as comfort to process his emotions, but how he finally broke free of using food as a form of self medication.
Josh Trent, of Wellness Force Radio has fantastic advice for us all on how to grow to love our bodies from a place of abundance and trust, rather than a place of anger (like so many of us do).
Every human being goes through stages, and although therapy has been shunned in the past, Josh has some great insights on why it is so important, and can help us upgrade our old software to deal with our issues once and for all/.
Josh talks about having a why, the reason you are willing to put in all the hours for your training, and that why should be bigger than you. Having a why that makes you cry will give you energy to pull from when life stacks roadblocks in front of you. We only have control over our experiences, and we need to make sure that our behaviors are in alignment with our goals.
Josh challenges us all to set a new fear PR, something that is terrifying, but will help us to feel more alive than ever before.
If you are ready to make 2017 your best year ever, this is an episode to inspire you to do just that.
4:15 Where did your journey start?
8:15 What was it about the moment with the red cup that made something switch in your mind?
9:25 We often think of drugs as pills, but tell us how food or exercise can be that addiction or way of coping with our feelings
12:30 You lost 75lbs, but we are in a world of perfection, so we struggle to find peace with ourselves, how did you learn to do this while you were going through this journey?
15:00 What can people recognize within themselves, where they can realize they are in a place of anger, and how can they move to a place of love?
16:00 Tell us about some of strategies to get out of a negative mindset
20:00 How long did it take you to spin your mental perspective to where you were confident in who you were?
22:20 How did you get to a place to where you did not see vulnerability as a weakness or something to be embarrassed about?
25:15 Why do you encourage people to face their frustrations and be vulnerable?
26:25 How can we make sure we make a behavior change rather than a New Years Resolution?
32:20 Let's use an example of a runner, and how they can make good choices to be ready for their big race coming up
36:20 What about people with families who believe it is not realistic to put themselves first, what would you like to say to them?
39:30 Describe just how much our negative thoughts affect us during races, and how can we take the steps to overcome those negative thoughts in a race?
41:30 How do you practice going against the negative thoughts in the moment?
48:00 You always ask your guests for what their definition of wellness is, what is yours?
49:30 Is it possible to fill up all three cups to have balance in our lives?
51:30 What themes come up over and over on your podcast interviews, that you would like to tell people today?
53:00 What are examples of some "why's" that will help people achieve their goals?
56:35 The Final Kick Round!
Today’s episode is a special treat.
I’ve brought on my good friend and fellow marathoner Sarah Crouch to play hostess with the mostess and ask me the hard questions on today’s special podcast.
I just finished the California International Marathon with a brand new personal record, and Sarah asks me all about how it feels to be both proud and disappointed in my finishing time.
I’ve been lucky enough to have run each of my marathons faster than the one before, but my perfectionist lifestyle always expects more.
I know a lot of you can relate to the fact that we runners hold ourselves to such high standards.
I’m guilty of not giving myself enough credit where it’s due, but that doesn’t mean I’m always beating myself up either.
I’m going to share how I stay motivated, how I train, and what I do to keep myself positive and healthy when my perfectionist attitude tries to come out.
1:35 Can you recap your California International Marathon?
4:05 Will you be able to settle for small successes?
4:50 Was this marathon your personal best so far?
6:00 Who is your motivation?
6:50 What was the hardest thing at CIM?
9:07 How did your pace feel at CIM?
10:30 How do you keep your confidence up?
12:00 How do you feel a week and/or a day before a big race?
14:37 How do you shape your identity outside of your race times?
16:06 What thing sticks out for you most about race time?
19:55 Who are you outside of running?
22:50 What’s Tina’s Backstreet Boys story?
24:28 How has celebrity affected your running and your life?
26:20 How do you maintain your positivity?
29:20 Would your running performance be different if you didn’t have this podcast?
30:50 What has been your favorite interview on the podcast?
31:41 Have you made it yet in your running career?
35:20 What were your teenage running exploits?
36:26 What moment changed your mind about running?
36:50 Why are British youths pushed so hard to run so young?
37:50 What was your partying lifestyle like?
40:00 What’s it like to train with Sarah?
44:26 When is your next marathon?
46:11 How do you approach personal goal setting?
48:15 How do you keep your confidence up during a race?
49:18 How did you feel when you saw your new personal record time?
53:10 What do you eat the day before a marathon?
54:54 What is your first craving after a marathon?
57:20 Rapid-fire round!
59:57 The Final Kick Round!
“I’m learning…that a PR is still a PR.”
“Why can’t I be a normal person who just sits and watches Netflix?”
“I like to think I’m a good person who puts others first.”
“I try and share my true feelings even it makes me look a bit stupid.”
“I’ll stop drinking, but instead I’m gonna drink Red Bull.”
“That is my next big goal - to run for England in the Commonwealth Games.”
“I was angry at myself for not giving my very best.”
Want more awesome interviews and advice? Subscribe to our iTunes channel
Tina's favorite running shoe: Saucony Ride (use coupon code TINA for 10% off)
We really hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top.
The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use.
If more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, it means I can reach out to and get through to the top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!