The 101st Edition
We often talk about running as a way to relieve stress, but we rarely acknowledge that running itself is a form of stress.
Something to Think About
We shouldn’t be just trying to remove stress from our life, we want to better manage it. Manage it well and it’ll help you grow rather than break you down.
Something to Ask Yourself
Are you using running to support your life, or are you just adding more to your plate than you currently have the capacity for?
Personal Lesson
Last week, there was no podcast episode. 
And as you know I’ll always be honest about why. It was simple.
It was because I was stressed and overwhelmed.
Between my own training, coaching, creating content, managing the business, travelling, and various stresses of private life, everything felt like too much.
Running has always been one of the most important tools in my life for managing stress. I’ve gained clarity on things during easy runs. Some of the most difficult periods of my life have been made more bearable by putting one foot in front of the other.
But something I’ve had to remind myself of recently is that training itself is also a demand.
It asks something of you. Your training doesn’t magically exist outside the rest of your life. It draws from the same energy reserves as everything else.
The irony is that when life becomes stressful, my instinct is often to do more.
More training, work, effort, productivity…. but perhaps I’m now (at 31) learning that it’s smart to know when to push and when to pull back.
Because paying attention is what we need more of.
Unfortunately, the body and mind doesn’t compartmentalise stress.
It just experiences it. And it can only take so much, so it’s up to you to manage it.
Running – Life’s Metaphor
This one’s obvious. The best runners know when to apply pressure and when to back off. They know that recovery isn’t the opposite of progress, it’s part of progress.
Life works much the same way.
Final Thoughts
One of the most common mistakes runners make is viewing training in isolation.
They’ll look at a training plan and ask whether they can physically complete the sessions.
What they often forget to ask is whether those sessions fit alongside their work, family, relationships, sleep, travel, and everything else competing for their attention.
The athletes I work with on-to-one know this about me. I will always ask about their life stresses. “What are you most stressed about right now?”, “How are your stress levels?”
This matters. Because the body only understands stress. The Central Nervous System needs to be listened to.
In some ways the body doesn’t know whether the stress is coming from a workout, a difficult conversation, financial pressure, poor sleep, a crying child, or an inbox full of problems.
Stress is stress.
Sometimes the right thing to do is push through. Sometimes the right thing to do is take a day off. Learning the difference is one of the most valuable skills any runner can develop.
It’s also important to remember that appearances can be deceiving.
Social media has a way of making it seem as though everyone else is training perfectly whilst simultaneously crushing their career, being a great partner, maintaining a thriving social life, and sleeping eight hours a night.
The reality is that many people are struggling to balance it all. Many athletes who look successful on the outside are carrying far more stress than you’d ever know.
The purpose of running is to enrich the life you have. We don’t want to resent our running. We don’t want to resent our work, or our relationships, or our responsibilities, or the lives we’ve built because we’ve failed to manage the stressors of life.
We want running to be something that adds to our experience of being alive. Don’t let it drain it.
Listen to yourself. Pay attention to your energy. Respect the stress you’re carrying.
When you learn to do that, running becomes what it was always meant to be: not an escape from life, but a way to engage with it more fully.
RUN THE RUNNABLE 😉