that’s runnable
The 40th Edition of your favourite Running Newsletter
The biggest mistake most runners make isn’t poor pacing, bad shoes, or the wrong training plan. It’s simply not showing up enough.
It’s coming! This week, I’ll be releasing the Coaching Hub.
From launch, there’ll be a course in there called “Getting to Know Your Body” which is a 4-part video series introducing what it means to tune in to your body, identify weaknesses, recognise your body’s signals, reframe discomfort, and embrace challenge with curiosity and confidence.
In the coming months, the Hub will be progressively filled with more strength, mobility, mindset and run coaching materials for you to apply to your own training.
Something to Think About 💭
Perfection is completely overrated. If you want to obsess over something, obsess over being consistent.
Something to Ask Yourself ❓
How easy is it for life to make you skip a session? Or do you work hard to prioritise it and fit it in?
Article of the Week 📄
Success stems from small, daily actions rather than overnight achievements. Have a read of this article and discover how consistent effort leads to significant results, the pitfalls of relying solely on motivation, and strategies to develop unshakable discipline.
Track of the Week 🎶
From their Untourable Album Album, this week’s Track of the Week is:
Tree Amoung Shrubs by Men I Trust (2021)
By the way, if you didn’t know, I put all these tracks in a Spotify playlist…
Personal Lesson
It’s easy to give yourself an excuse. To tell yourself you’re “listening to your body” when really, you’re just being lazy. To frame skipping a session as “self-care” when really, you just don’t feel like suffering today. Rest is important. Recovery matters. But let’s be honest, sometimes we’re just being a bit pathetic.
I’ve learned that I’m more inclined to listen to the lazy voice in my head than the one that knows what’s actually good for me. The lazy voice is persuasive. It speaks in soft, rational tones. “You need a break.” “You’ll perform better if you skip today.” “You’ve done enough this week.” But the truth is, I’m quite often looking for an out. And if you listen to it often enough, it becomes louder than the one that tells you to get up, get moving, and put the work in.
I used to think the best runners were the ones who nailed perfect workouts. That if I wanted to be good, I had to hit every split, feel strong every session, and structure everything perfectly. But now I think that’s bullshit. The greatest compliment someone can give you isn’t that you’re talented or that you run fast. It’s that you’re consistent. That you always turn up. That you’re reliable.
I’ll never forget once being told I was consistent. It was a passing comment from my old triathlon coach at university, but it stuck with me. Because that’s the thing I admire most in other people, the desire to put the work in, keep showing up, ignore excuses and grind, day in day out. It says a lot about a person when you see them consistently ticking off their workouts, we should all aspire to be like that.
You can’t always be fast. You can’t always feel strong. But you can always be the person who turns up. And that, over time, makes all the difference.
Running – Life’s Metaphor
Life rewards those who keep turning up. Not the ones who wait for the perfect moment, but the ones who – day in, day out – do the work, even when it’s messy.
Final Thoughts
Most people don’t fail because they’re incapable. They fail because they don’t show up enough. They think they’re dedicated, but they’re not. Not really.
Real progress, in anything you do, comes from an unwavering commitment to turning up every single day. Not when it’s convenient. Not when you feel good. Not when it fits neatly into your schedule. Every. Single. Day.
The problem is, most people don’t want to do this. They want the results but not the process. They want the transformation but not the daily grind. They think they’re working hard, but they’re just not working hard enough, for long enough. They quit too soon. They give up when it gets boring. They wait for motivation.
But motivation is a scam. It’s fleeting. It’s unreliable. The people who get somewhere in life aren’t the ones who wait to feel ready. They’re the ones who grind through the days when everything in them is screaming to stop.
Look around. How many people do you know who actually commit to something fully? Who aren’t looking for shortcuts? Who aren’t making excuses? It truly is rare.
If you want to actually improve, to actually reach your potential, you have to show up consistently over a long period of time. You have to actually put in the work. Think about it, most people try to implement a habit (like morning pushups or going to the gym) and eventually 99/100 of those people stop doing it. Very few people are committed enough to keep tapping away. But those who do, they are the ones who see real change.
That’s the separator. That’s what makes the difference. It’s not talent. It’s doing the work when no one else is willing to do it.
Sorry to get all Goggins on you this week, but if you’re serious about getting better, stop looking for perfection and start valuing consistency. Show up. Show up today. Show up tomorrow. Show up the next day. Do that for weeks, months, years – and watch what happens.
