Do You Actually Enjoy Running?

Do You Actually Enjoy Running?

Have you even thought about it?

When I met Chris at the start of the year, he certainly wasn’t.

Chris dreamed of running the Berlin Marathon. He’d been running sub-3 Marathons for a couple of years and was hoping to get a PR in Berlin in the Fall. The trouble was, he only had 9 months and his knee was killing him.

Chris’ Knee Pain

He’d been working with a coach focusing on high volume training and had been seeing great results. His marathon times had steadily improved over the course of last season. Then the knee pain started. Now it was January and he couldn’t hit the weekly volume his coach needed him to because his knee hurt too much.

Chris knew the clock was ticking. He’d managed to improve his marathon times year-on-year since he got into running. But he was 40 years old now. He knew that the window to put in a lifetime best performance was closing. He only had a couple of seasons left at this level.

This really sucked for Chris. Trying to hit a lifetime best performance should come down to your skill and effort, not knee pain.

A Turning Point

When Chris and I had his free call back in January he explained all of this to me. We also discussed his training and the symptoms he was having. I could relate to Chris feeling anxious about missing his chance. I ran my best 5k about 10 years ago at 20:19. I’m 39 years old now and I think my chance to go sub-20 has passed.

Chris was really pleased with the results he was getting from the high-volume training. He was really keen to get back to it so he could run at least sub-3 in Berlin. He asked if we could continue that focus on high volume training during his rehab.

I asked Chris what the biggest barrier was between him and a sub-3 hour marathon in Berlin. He said it was the knee pain. So I told him that we needed to fix that first. We agreed to work together for 3 months to address his knee pain. Then he could return to his coach for high volume training to prepare for Berlin.

The Plan

There were three key features of the rehab plan we drew up for Chris.

1. Drop the Volume
2. Increase the Intensity
3. Increase the Strength Intensity

Chris had already dropped his training volume pretty low because his knee hurt too bad to do more. We took the emphasis off weekly mileage and focused on intensity on the runs. Lots of sprint intervals and hill sprints. Always monitoring the symptoms and modifying the plan as needed.

We had Chris hit the gym hard three days a week. Lots of quads! Squats, quad curls, lunges, step ups, leg press, squat jumps, lunge jumps. Quads Quads Quads! As is often the case with tendon problems, they don’t mind that much when you go heavy, but they don’t like jumping or running. This allowed us to push the weight up really high. Building resilience in the tendon and strength in the muscles.

Return to Training

Three months later Chris had no knee pain and was enjoying the high intensity training so much he decided to continue to work with us to prepare for Berlin. In May, he ran the Calgary Half Marathon in 1:29 and six weeks after that he did one in 1:26. Now he’s 5 weeks out from the Berlin Marathon.

We had a coaching call earlier this week to finalize his preparation for the race. I asked him what finish time he’d like to go for. He was really pleased with his half marathon performances in the Spring. He also felt like he was even fitter now as he’d been training hard all summer. However, he felt like a sub-3 marathon might be a bit beyond him right now.

I try not to tell people what to do in these situations. Rather, I wanted to help outline the situation so he could make the right decision for him. 

I asked him to think back to where he was in January. His knee was killing him. He couldn’t do long runs. Doing a marathon felt like a fantasy. Now it’s August. He’s registered for the Berlin Marathon, his flights are booked. He’s been training hard all summer and is about to go into his taper. Would he have taken that if I offered it to him in January?

“That would have been a dream come true”

I said that one option would be to go for it, leave it all out there and see what you can do. You might get sub-3, you might even get a PR. But you might totally blow up. Another option would be to take it easier. Choose a pace that would be challenging but doable. Then focus on enjoying the experience.

He felt more drawn to the second option. He’d always wanted to run the Berlin Marathon and this might be the only chance he gets. Many runners would love to be in his shoes. To give himself permission to just enjoy the experience felt like the right decision.

I told him I’d bumped into his wife last week (she works at a restaurant my wife and I really like). She’d told me how happy Chris seemed. How much he was enjoying his training. 

The Philosophy of Enjoyment

I’ve been thinking about “enjoyment” recently. It actually came from a business mentor of mine. Frank Benedetto is a Physical Therapist who had his own clinic but was totally burned out by the medical system he had to work in. Now he helps Physios create what he calls “Mission-Driven Businesses”.

I was attracted to him because my mission is to help runners keep running into their 90’s. Keeping physically and mentally healthy is a huge part of a fulfilling life (not to mention the healthcare savings). 

Frank shared with me tha In recent years, he’s shifted his focus from pursuing happiness to simply enjoying his work. I didn’t think much about it at the time. However, in the last couple of months, I’ve noticed I’m not only enjoying my training, but also my work and family time.

Enjoying Your Running

When you think about it, “Enjoyment” is an excellent high-level indication of whether you are getting what you need out of your running. If Chris wasn’t seeing progress in his race performances, he wouldn’t really be enjoying his running. 

At the same time, if Chris is so focused on getting a PR, that he sucks all the fun out of his Berlin Marathon, he wouldn’t enjoy that either.

If we enjoy our running, we are finding the balance between striving to be better, and living in the moment. Most runners are very type-A, goal-oriented people. We live our lives in the future. Always trying to get better, to improve. Not just in running. In our work, our family, our health. Always fixing, always improving. 

Sometimes, we’re so focused on getting to the destination, we forget to enjoy the journey. 

When I met Chris, he wasn’t enjoying his running. I dare bet this was seeping into other areas of his life too. He was frustrated with his knee pain and worried that he would miss out on his chance to run Berlin.

Now he’s training hard and excited about Berlin. Most importantly, he’s enjoying his running.

If you’re not enjoying your running, we might be able to help, just click the button below to book a free call.