REAL LIFE RUNNERS PODCAST: EPISODE #272 – Ways To Find Your Joy in Running (Transcript)
ANGIE: What's up, runners? As you might have noticed, we do not run ads on this podcast. And we do that very intentionally because we don't really like ads when we listen to podcasts, and we figured you probably don't either. So, if you appreciate this podcast and the content that we put out for you weekly, could you do us a big favor and just help us grow the podcast by sharing this with a friend taking a screenshot and sharing it on social media or leaving us a review on iTunes, all of those things really help us to grow the podcast and to reach more people. And if you do that, we would be so grateful for you. So, onto the show.
KEVIN: This is the Real Life Runners podcast, and we're your host, Kevin and Angie Brown. Thanks for spending some time with us today. Now let's get running.
ANGIE: Okay, so like a lot of people, I sometimes get sucked into the TikTok world and there's this one guy that I like following on TikTok and he tells the funniest stories. He's a teacher and he tells these funny stories about elementary school and the funny things that kids say, and like all sorts of fun stuff. But at the end of pretty much all of his TikToks. I don't know if any at all the ones that I've at least watched, he says "Find Your Joy”, and I love that it just and it makes me smile every time and it also got me thinking and it really got me thinking about like finding your joy in running like how can you find your joy and running so, today we want to bring some joy back into your running journey because I think that sometimes when we start to get into running and we start to get more serious about our running. We start to set goals right. We want to improve. We can sometimes get so focused on improving or running faster, running longer, that we end up losing some of the joy and some of the fun in our running journey.
KEVIN: 100%.
ANGIE: So, that can lead us, or that can be running to really start to feel kind of like a grind, right? Like or chore or something you have to just get through you gotta get it in because it's on your plan. So, today we want to talk about brain some of that joy and that fun back in instead of just having running be something that you just have to get through every day.
KEVIN: Yeah, you talk about, you know, the the TikTok that sort of inspired this one, but one of the people that I follow on Instagram, runners that I follow on Instagram, he closed out all of his posts with “Smile or you're doing it wrong.”
ANGIE: Oh, Okay.
KEVIN: And there's definitely been “smile, you're doing it wrong” reference some some experiences where the pictures involved did not necessarily look like the the most joy inducing thing, but that kind of brings us to really, what is joy which is kind of where we're going to ground this entire thing is joy to begin with is not exactly the same thing as happiness.
ANGIE: No it's not. And people often confuse them like they think they're the same thing. And so, like, when we are talking about, you know, this podcast, we're kind of outline it together, I was like, let's look it up in the dictionary like what is joy?
KEVIN: And one of the definitions is happiness, but it's not the first one, like it's, it's it's down further on the list where like joy and happiness are kind of equal they had
ANGIE: Somewhat synonymous.
KEVIN: They had bliss to the list of it, but it's not the first one. The first one I looked up you like this one, so I'll let you go ahead and take this guy.
ANGIE: Yeah, I like this one a lot. So, it says “Joy is the emotion evoked by well-being success or good fortune, or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.”
KEVIN: I like the second part. The prospect of, It’s like the joy’s not having the thing.
ANGIE: Yeah, it's not having the thing. Yeah, it's thinking about having the thing.
KEVIN: Well, I mean that's like when you think about having a delicious dessert is often more satisfying than the desert itself, just thinking about it.
ANGIE: Or that first bite and then it, like, kind of like fades in desirability as you go.
KEVIN: Yeah.
ANGIE: Unless you eat on of my desserts.
KEVIN: That rarely happens with any desserts, for me, they don't last that long in my plate I often look for more of what it is but, you know when you think about eating something delicious, your body starts reacting as though you're currently eating it, right? It's it's anticipating the joy in preparing you for that process. In physical ways, but mentally we do the same thing. We can experience happiness without having to be in a happy situation, we just think about the happy situation and we start feeling happier.
ANGIE: Well, that's the whole concept behind visualization too, right? Like our brain does not know the difference between reality and not reality. Like we can literally visualize whatever outcome we want in any situation, and we can start to experience that thing ahead of time, before we actually even have the outcome, and a lot of the self development people that I follow and mindset coaches and those kinds of things that I like to follow talk about this concept a lot. They talk about going to your future self and going to that place where you already have the thing that you desire, you're already making the impact that you want to make. You already have that lifestyle that you want and starting to live from that place because our brains really don't know the difference. So we can start living that way and start experiencing those things now we start experiencing the thoughts and the feelings that can create joy in our lives, right? So it's that emotion again, evoked by well-being success or good fortune, or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.
KEVIN: Yeah, right. So.
ANGIE: Let's talk about the seven things.
KEVIN: I was gonna say. That gives us a great grounding from here we've got 7 things that you can do and maybe not all of them are going to bring joy to you we've got some things where it's like, alright, here's a good list somewhere on there might help you help bring back joy in case that's fading in your current running existence.
ANGIE: Yeah, like the goal is not that you have to like go through every single one of these and like check them all off and make sure you get all of them, you know? OK, now I can experience joy did all 7 things like just take one, take 2. Like see what resonates with you in this episode like. This is what I was telling our cross country kids the other day. So like I was we do at least one mindset or mental performance thing per week and you know I I gave them a a great one this week. And I said, you know, try it out and see like who's willing to try this out because all of these things that we give you and same thing with here on the podcast everything that we give you guys are tools that you can use. Some of them are going to resonate more with you. Some of them you're just going to be like, OK, yeah, that's interesting. And you're just going to kind of forget about it within an hour, right? But then something one sentence that we say sometime in this podcast might just kind of hit you and you're like, oh my gosh, like, I've never thought of it that before, of it that way before, you know, and that's really why we do what we do. So, before we actually jump into the seven ways, I'm going to go ahead and plug the newest free workshop that I'm creating for you guys because like, I have, you know, we love to create tons of free content because our goal here at real life runners is really just helping more runners find Joy in there running to learn how to run in a way that is right for them. So that they can achieve their goals, they can find joy. They can feel good about them. And so I'm literally just obsessed with trying to like make people running journeys in peoples lives better whatever way I can. So we put up this podcast for you guys every week and then I also create some free workshops, free trainings. We run our five day challenge and the newest thing that I'm creating creating a brand new workshop, it's, i'm going to hold it live on September 22nd at noon, Eastern Standard Time. And it is going it's entitled “The Secret To Your Next PR”, okay. Now, the cool thing about this workshop is that I'm going to be talking about something that a lot of people are not talking about. If you've listened to the podcast for a while, you probably are going to hear some familiarity's you know, some things that we've talked about before, but I'm structuring it in a way that I've never done before and I really want to go deep into yhis concept with you guys. I'm not talking about easy running, I'm not talking about strength training. I'm talking about something a little bit different, something that you haven't really thought about in this way before. Maybe you have, but I'm guessing that a lot of you haven't, so I really wanted to invite you guys to join me in this free live workshop. I'm really excited about it. Head over to realliferunners.com/PR to sign up today!
KEVIN: I like did you tease that it's not about strength training, because as a doctor of physical therapy, I was pretty sure that the answer was the glutes, but apparently that's not the answer in in this particular instance.
ANGIE: No, not for this one. Yeah, and those are all important things, right? Strength training is important, easy running is important. We talk about them all the time on the podcast but the thing that I want to talk about in this workshop is really the root of all of it. It literally is the secret to your next PR, because if you can master this thing that I'm going to be teaching you, it can unlock I mean just unbelievable potential in your running and really the rest of your life as well. So yeah, realliferunners.com/PR. Onto the episode.
KEVIN: On to seven things to bring you joy. All right, option number one. And again, like Angie pointed out, this is not a checklist, okay? Unless checklist bring as much joy to you as they do to Angie.
ANGIE: That is true.
KEVIN: But even then, don't write these down and check them off saying, this is my step-by-step process to happiness. Try a few amount and see if that increases happiness for you. Let's see what we got, #1 Remember why you started running in the first place.They this is an interesting one 'cause, not everybody got into running for what necessarily might have been the most, I don't know, joy inducing, fun centric way. OK, some people may have gotten into running like I want to get in better shape, I want to lose weight. Oh, these are not necessarily like joy inducing, yeah. So think about what it is that got you through those opening days of running those opening weeks of running. Like as you were progressing, what was that kept you going back? Maybe you had like a small mini goal along the way? Once you reach that goal, why did you keep going? There was something in there that I think if you really think about it might be a source of joy.
ANGIE: Yeah, the prospect of possessing what one desires, right? Going back to that definition and like, this is an interesting one, because like, well, Kevin and I were talking about, you know some maybe some of you got into running because you wanted to achieve a certain goal. Maybe you wanted to run 1/2 marathon. You wanted to run your first 5K your, your friends were doing it, and they invited you to come along so there might have been some, you know, fun and joy in the start of your running journey, but if you guys are anything like me and you started running just because you weren't happy with your body and you wanted to lose weight and you wanted to get in shape. That's not really the most joyful thing the idea of like the body that I wanted, right? The prospect of possessing quote UN quote a runners body for me, which I know now, now no, is a lie. But that was what I wanted. That was like, that idea brought me joy of, like being stronger, being healthier, being more fit, right? And so I I'm happy to say that I definitely have achieved all of that now, right? But just think about here, why you got into running if you didn't like your body and you are going into it 'cause, you know you wanted to change it because you had very negative thoughts about it. This might not be the best way for you to bring the joy back in, right? Because this might bring up some negative body image issues and other things that maybe you've already moved past, so maybe this one is not the one for you and that's totally cool, right? So just kind of be honest with yourself and like Kevin said, if you started for one of those reasons maybe you weren't happy with your body, think about what made you continue, right? Like, why are you still running? Kind of get back, maybe it was, it's not your original why, but it's your current why. Maybe you now love the idea that you get to challenge yourself. Maybe you now have a running group of friends that you get to spend time with. You know like whatever it is that keeps you going now. Kind of tap back into that.
KEVIN: Yeah, and I mean you went into running for what you would argue is not necessarily like a joy thing. You were chasing a different body image. I really just found fun when I started running like that was the first running. That I enjoyed all the different aspects of it, yeah, like in football, I enjoyed the part where we got to run in practice. I enjoyed catching the football also, but there was a bunch of aspects of that that I did not really find fun during the training. There were aspects of different sports and I'm like I like most of it, but there's some that I don't running was just fun to me so some running was not fun to me.
ANGIE: Yeah, running was my least favorite thing in all of my sports, I'm like, why do we have to run again? Like it's volleyball I don't run in Volleyball I like move quickly around the court. You know, you don't learn in volleyball. Like, you're literally just kind of bouncing around the ball.
KEVIN: Right, but I that was the first sport that I got into that I'm like this is this is just fun. I get to go out and I get to hang out with this group of guys and and we're just having a blast out here and and it's great.
ANGIE: It just made me think of the back of Francie shirt like yesterday, we were at a cross country meet and one of the local coaches in the area in the back of her shirt said “Cross country helping skinny guys make friends since 1967”
KEVIN: Yep, that's, that was me.
ANGIE: that cracked me up.
KEVIN: I mean that was, that was the group so it was, It was my first big connection to another group of guys when I got into high school is that was that was what we did and there was a lot of success among it. So the whole thing was fun, but sometimes when I'm so deep into training and so chasing numbers on a clock, it's nice to remember that, hey, when I first started running, running was just fun, even though I didn't even know what a 5K race was, even though I've never seen a crowd had. I'd watch my sister run cross country, but there I wasn't in a race, I was just out running the middle of the woods.
ANGIE: If you watch kids play, you know, like kids love running, they literally don't walk, right?
KEVIN: They run all over.
ANGIE: They like run from place to place and they'll just break into a spontaneous race, you know? Like, just because running is fun, right? And so at some point, maybe running has been fun for you, maybe so tap back into that. You know, maybe you tried strides for the first time and you find found that joy. And if you don't, come join our Academy will teach you all about it.
KEVIN: Right? What else we got? Alright, let's let's #2.
ANGIE: Number 2. You don't have to run a race.
KEVIN: What?
ANGIE: What?
KEVIN: No, you have to. Sorry. This one is wrong. This is a typo.
ANGIE: No, you can find your joy by literally not racing, right? Like maybe you're the kind of person that just gets really anxious and stressed out with this idea of a race. Or maybe you like racing, but you just feel like you've had a lot of races kind of back-to-back to back. And you haven't really just had time to just run and enjoy running, right? Like you've always had this like very strict training plan this structure, but you can be working towards goals without a race on the calendar, right? There are different goals that you can have without needing to, right? And sometimes it's really good to literally not have any goal at all, right? Like, yes, I think it's important to to have a goal. Like, we talk about goals here all the time, I do think that it's important, but for short periods of time, like, sometimes it's actually nice not to have a goal and to just, like, go out and run just because you enjoy running like that is the entire point. You're not trying to work to anything, you're not trying to build up to anything you're not trying to increase your mileage or your speed, or a race. You're just running because you like to run and if you've never done that before, I highly suggest that you try it right like it maybe after your next race you've got a race on the calendar take a couple of weeks and literally just go out and run without a purpose, like it's it's actually really freeing.
KEVIN: It's it is pretty free.
ANGIE: I've experienced that this year and it's actually really freeing.
KEVIN: Yeah, the whole run without a trace, the last couple of years has been weird, so people may have had like a regular racing schedule, 2020 hits, you have no racing schedule, suddenly you have to go virtual, then race, come back. But they're like weird, here's like testing things before hand or you're supposed to mask at the starting line. It's weird. Now, suddenly races are back in a more normal thing, but some people have a race for a couple of years and maybe they're thinking to themselves. Oh, I don't know how much I actually enjoyed racing there was a lot of anxiety with it I need this really tight, structured plan to get to the race. You don't need to put a race on the schedule just because you want to progress forward and have a goal. Like find something that sounds fun to you and work towards that. Something that maybe you couldn't do right now as far as you're running is concerned and say, alright, my goal is to do that, maybe like that's a new distance for you, like maybe that's a loop around a neighborhood, around a park, or whatever. It is you're like I don't think that I could run around that whole thing, but I bet you could gradually work your way up towards that, that's not a race that just seems like a new fun adventure for you to try and figure out how to accomplish that.
ANGIE: Yeah, or maybe it has It doesn't have to do with, right? Maybe you want to build strength, right? Like I went through a strength building cycle at the beginning of this year and part of that was because I had COVID like at the end of last year, like in August of last year and like I knew that that affected me. It affected my speed, it affected my endurance. Like, it affected me a lot, right? And so there was that comparison of, I don't want a race because I don't want to see that time on the clock, right? There are some avoidance. I am going to be 100% honest with you guys, right? Like we tell you guys, the numbers don't matter. We tell you all this and all of that is true, but we are still runners and we still compare and we still use numbers because number, running this very number driven sport, right, and we still see it and there's a lot of thought work that I could do around it and I can change my beliefs and change my thoughts and do all the things that I just didn't want to? OK. Like I'm going to be straight up with you guys? Because again, those are tools and I was just like, you know what? I don't wanna race, right now, and so I took the first couple of months of this year and really just worked on building strength. I really wanted to like lift heavier weights and like see the weights that I was able to lift I wanted to see those numbers go up. I wanted to kind of focus on that and that was really fun, like in in improving my muscle strength was that was a great goal for me to work towards.
KEVIN: And like you could see it like there was there was clear progress taking place so it wasn't just like a I'm
ANGIE: Yeah, he's still bitter that I beat him in an arm wrestling contest.
KEVIN: So, you work. It did not happen.
ANGIE: That never happened. It did not happen.
KEVIN: No, no, no that did not happen. We're gonna have to do that after the podcast finishes recording now, we'll let you know following you on Instagram at @realliferunners.
ANGIE: @realliferunners.
KEVIN: That should be fun, OK? But it was still like an objective goal that you were going for. You could see the the strength gains taking place. It wasn't just like a vague I want to get stronger there was still a goal, even though that goal was not specifically a running race. Yeah, OK. So that's that's the second guy, third one is literally the opposite of that, find a race. But here's the catch to it. Find a different kind of race, yeah, if you're used to doing that. Now, like the regular routine of 5K and 10K in your local community, and those the ones you do that sets you up for comparison from one year to the next to the next to the next. Especially if you just keep doing the same race, you're going to do that a lot maybe you do same race distances you travel, but you're always running half marathons. Whatever it is, try something a little bit different.
ANGIE: Yeah. And this is something that like I've been really thinking about this year it's like 'cause I've been thinking OK, I need to sign up for race. This is me putting pressure on myself, like, Angie yo are a running coach, you need to be racing, you're telling people to race like all these things. But it's like, I have not felt any sort of like desire and enjoy in like finding a race. I've just felt pressure. I just felt this heaviness and I know I just need to break through it and just go but one of the things that I've been thinking about is finding something different. Like not 1/2 marathon, not a 5K, not anything that I've ever done before It's like, well, I've never done a trail race before. Or maybe I'll try that. Maybe I'll run a 10 mile are maybe I'll run A15K, right? Like there's all these other types of distance says that I've never done before, so I literally have nothing to compare myself to I obviously have a pace that I could like shoot for or try to do. But I don't have a previous race result to compare. And so in my mind that removes an entire layer of pressure from the situation and it just allows me to kind of like go out and have fun. Like, OK, let's try this distance out and see how this goes.
KEVIN: Yeah, it though it adds just sort of a a question mark to it. Yeah, the more uncertainty you have whether the race distance is something that's unknown, like it's not like a 10 mile are for you 'cause, you mentioned this one a few times. Yeah, you've raced shorter than that. You've raced longer than that, so you could ballpark what that is, right? But you've never raced 10 miles, so it's not like you don't know what 10 miles feels like, but
ANGIE: Right. I've run 10 miles plenty of times, right?
KEVIN: But to race that distance, isn't that that's an unknown. If you do a trail race, the terrain adds an unknown aspect to it. Like just not being on sidewalk or roads for such a long period of time. Like how are the muscles going to respond to that thing. Or if there's like a decent amount of like inclined to it, that's going to add a whole new thing to it, and that uncertainty inspires experimentation. And to me
ANGIE: And curiosity.
KEVIN: To me, both of those are joy.
ANGIE: Yeah, I love curiosity. Curiosity is one of my favorite emotions to tap into for anything. Like I'm trying to do something. Like, it's very easy for us as humans to tap into comparison, to tap into judgment, right? To, like, put pressure on ourselves. So if I can shift like not even from like negative all the way to positive, I just shift into curiosity that is such a powerful emotion and I love, I mean, I'm just naturally a curious person like I am a questioner.
KEVIN: Very much.
ANGIE: Of all things like If you want me to do something, my first question is going to be why, that's just how I am. That's how I'm built and I just find curiosity and experimentation so exciting and and very joyful because I love figuring things out and finding answers and like, you know, I've never done it this way before. Let's see how this is going to be, like this is going to be cool, like let's go on an adventure.
KEVIN: I mean. You can do this even within a race distance that you've already done before. Yeah, like and this is one thing that like we work with sometimes with the kids in our cross country team is okay, you've run a 5K, you ran like one last week and the week before and the week before that. On this one, try taking it out super aggressive. Maybe this is going to work. Well for you, maybe that third mile you're going to crash and burn. But how do we know you're going to crash and burn If we don't try it. So sometimes even if you.
ANGIE: So, it's race strategies
KEVIN: Race strategies that you're trying something approaching the race in a way that you've never done before, or the opposite, take it out super conservative like, if you're that person is just like, I know, I kind of just get out and try and get into my groove as soon as possible and then it just ride that groove through the whole race, try and switch it up, take it out super conservative and then start seeing how many people can I pass. We have kids on our team that loves passing,like that's their favorite aspect of being in a race. So if they take it out, conservative they then get to literally pass people for the entire risk that race, so that race is more fun for them if they take it out super fast. They're just hanging on by their fingernails for the rest of it that in their head, is nowhere near as much fun. Yeah, we had other people that are like, no, I'll just like to take it out as as fast as I can because I feel like I'm almost done with it and then it's going to be painful anyway, so I might as well just hang on and and hope that I get the fast time. But you can try either of those things that you've never done it before, it's a way to literally try something new to experiment with it. It helps remove boredom, and it helps remove direct comparison you're like, well, yeah, it's a 5K, but I've never done a 5K like this before so sure, there's going to be comparison, but it kind of starts removing the direct comparison. Boredom in comparison tend to suck the joy out of things.
ANGIE: Like it like you said. It's that spirit of experimentation like I've never, and like, there's people that have just joined our training Academy, and I've been talking to them like, well, have you ever raced a 5K? and they're like no, I just. I run 5K, but I've never like pushed myself in a 5K and I was like, all right, so why don't you try. Why don't you give that a shot and see how that goes, you know like and I think that that's how so many runners operate right they don't really know what it's like to push themselves or they push themselves too much to the extreme right, so like finding that middle ground might be kind of an interesting experiment to a runner.
ANGIE: All right, #4. Join a group. OK, I love running groups. I've talked about this on Instagram plenty of times. Joining my local running group is one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. These women have become such a huge part of my life. There are some of my best friends right now and and I know we'll be friends for life you know with some of them because the relationships that you make with like minded individuals that are similar to you in so many ways, like similar enough to prioritize their health and fitness. To wake up at 5:00 AM on Tuesday morning to meet each other at 5:30, to go out for a five mile run like the to go out on Saturday mornings and and run 10 miles and then go have coffee together like, these are my people, you know, like and you can find people that are so similar to you in your local running group, and if you don't have a local running group, there are tons of online communities. And granted, it is not the same as running with someone in person, we know that. But the amount of support and connection that you can find in online running communities is unbelievable. It truly is and we speak from experience because we have one of the greatest running communities, I believe in the world on the web because we we literally have runners all over the globe. You know, we've have Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United States. I don't think we have anyone in South America yet. So if you're in South America. Come join the Academy because we'd like to we'd love to represent all 7 continents. Definitely don't have any Antarctica.
KEVIN: Yeah, do not have.
ANGIE: So but we still have you know tons of people all over the world and we're all going through the same stuff. We all have the same doubts. We all have the same reservations. We all have similar experiences. Maybe it's a little bit of a different race distance, maybe it's a different pace, but when you're out there and you're pushing yourself and you're trying to become a better runner. When you have other people that are doing that same thing, the connection that you make with those people is so, it fills your cup. It's so joy inducing. It's unbelievable. Yeah, I mean, obviously I'm an extrovert, as you can tell.
KEVIN: Well, yes, that certainly helps. But you know, when I get into running, I got in as an in person runner and just the way that I train in the time that I train I don't have a big running group with me. I do basically every run solo at this point in time, but the online running group and you don't have to find people that are running your same distance. You'd have to find people you're running your same piece. This is part of the the glory of an online running group. Is it doesn't really matter who it is. You find like minded runners and you could argue that most runners are kind of similar people, but even within that you can find like slate different personalities in that. So you need to find that running group that works for you, that you feel like you can really fully be yourself, that you're appreciated by that group it. Because it and it doesn't mean that you have find people that are running your same race, your same pace. Runners at whatever level, will understand the different struggles like engineering, praying for different races we train in different paces, but we genuinely understand the struggle that each of us are going through. You know, you come back from like a morning. You're like I did 12 by 1/4. I'm like, oh I know exactly like I know what quarter #10 feels like. I know that.
ANGIE: In our quarters are very, very different paces. But we're each pushing to a certain effort level and this is what makes effort level training so powerful. It doesn't matter if my quarter repeat is at like a 730 pace and Kevin quarter repeat is at what like 430, 5
KEVIN: It's quicker, it's brisk, yeah.
ANGIE: Right, like you're somewhere down there, like literally minutes faster than me, right? I mean not minutes per quarter because the quarters are pretty pretty short. But I mean, but like, we understand what it's like to push to that level.
KEVIN: We've had people that are following like similar training plans within our Academy and they got to like the same workout and I know they cover different distances, but both of them did like one minute on, one minute off, times 12 And it was just like, like that's that's an intense workout and they covered very different distances from start but they both knew what the other person struggle was both got the workout. So I think that's part of the fun of the online communication is you can have that community without having to necessarily find somebody that is running your exact same pace.
ANGIE: And like, you know, we've got a bunch of people in the Academy right now that are all training for Chicago and you know, someone put up a post the other day that was like who's got their 18 miler this weekend, you know like and they all kind of were were communicating and they understand each other in that way, right? So find your tribe. Find people that understand you. And not all running groups are the same, unfortunately. Like I've heard some stories of other running groups that are not as welcoming. You know, like in in my local area specifically. And then there's different running groups online that I have been a part of and very quickly left because it's just like a toxic environment, like you have to watch out because they're again, there can be a lot of comparison. There can be a lot of judgment. There could be haters in there there can be a lot of issues, right? So finding the right group is really really important as well.
KEVIN: Yeah, you don't want a group where someone coming in, they're just they're bragging with the hopes of someone else responding of wow you're amazing. Like that's every
ANGIE: Like there are some people that just post up like shirtless pictures of themselves and if that's you, but, good for you, you know like, good for you. But like, there are certain running groups that will, like, celebrate that. And then there are heat haters. And then there's everything in between and you know. You just have to figure out what resonates with you.
KEVIN: I like our group or groups.
ANGIE: Yeah, I love our group.
KEVIN: Great, right?
ANGIE: Shout out to our training team and Academy members.
KEVIN: #5 for finding joy. Ditch the watch.
ANGIE: I love this one.
KEVIN: Hey, ditched.
ANGIE: And also hate it.
KEVIN: Yeah, and this is tricky because if you if you run without a watch, then it doesn't show up in garment and it doesn't show up in the garment, then it didn’t actually happen or whatever your particular technology thing is. If you do without the watch, it still counts. Your body is still getting the benefit of it, you're still getting the mental benefit of it, but you're removing that constant comparison that is strapped to your risk. You're removing the continuous feedback, and when you've got that constant comparison, the continuous nonstop feedback, it can make a workout now suddenly become a winning or losing proposition. It's not just a workout. You either did the work out correctly or you didn't, and your watch is going to tell you.
ANGIE: Well, especially with the way these watches are now. Like they literally tell you after your workout, I'm so glad that ours don't do this because we we are like old school you know, whatever. But yeah, there are watches that literally say unproductive or decline, you know, fitness declining. Right like there they give you information so quickly, right after your run, and it can literally change your entire perspective on that run, right? We've had previous episodes about, like, how much power you're giving away to your GPS watch. So if you or someone that is like obsessed with the numbers and technology, you should go find that one and listen to it maybe we'll try to find it and link it in the in the show notes, but ditching your watch, I think, is one of these things that is so anxiety producing at the beginning 100% like I I like to have my stats. I like to see it pop up in my Garmin connect. I like to track my my monthly mileage, my yearly mileage. I that is something I like. So I heard someone I I think it was last week even that just said, like they put a piece of tape, was it you that told me this? Some they they put a piece of tape over their watch so they they couldn't look at it like I say, just change the screen right and just change it over to your heart rate or just change it over to the time the clock, but even so, you you know, we get tricky with ourselves, like we can know what time we started and kind of like be tracking it right like a little bit, but running without the watch, yeah.
KEVIN: By the time you hit a couple of intersections that this start time is doesn't make any sense anymore.
ANGIE: But you could always go back in and like put that mileage into Garmin Connect also.
KEVIN: Yes, yes, you certainly can add in and can see like. I use my watch to track my overall mileage that I can see like long term, what kind of trends I'm looking for because that to me is a benefit of the workouts. Like any particular single workout should be a step towards this long term improvement, but when you're getting the feedback every single second, that feedback is coming in too quick even when you're getting to work at every single workout, sometimes you're not able to see short term gains. They're literally invisible. In the short term, you may even see a regression, you're like, oh, I definitely am. Like the watches that say, you know, losing fitness. Look, depending on how you work out, because the watches will do a lovely job through throwing it into a crazy algorithm of your heart rate and your pacing stuff of estimating your VO2 Max. I know that if I go from one number on VR2 Max and it drops it would have told me I'm losing fitness. But I also know that the workouts that I'm doing are literally designed to build something besides VO2Max and I
ANGIE: Right. Like that's not a lactate threshold workout, right?
KEVIN: Like I'm improving my fitness, I'm just not improving that number that you're currently measuring so because I'm improving this other thing, this one naturally counterbalances, give me a week and it'll boost back up because it it like, it naturally sweet. I've read plenty of books on it. I'm not losing fitness you silly watch. I know. I know what it is.
ANGIE: You silly willy nilly.
KEVIN: So I don't even need it to tell me but sometimes I look at it, I know what my VO2 max was one day and it gets lower the day after and I'm like, yes, that's because I did those last three workouts. It was supposed to go in that direction, I didn't lose fitness, but if you don't like. You know the nuances of the training, right? You might look at your watch and be like, oh I am definitely going in the wrong direction. When you see regression in the numbers on the watch, you think that you're going the wrong direction. Whereas if you just think about running as, I want to build long term consistency then the numbers on the watch aren't going to tell you you're getting better or worse, you're going to say yes, you wouldn't get your run in today.
ANGIE: Yeah, and so can you ditch the watch? Is that I think this is really the question I think that for some of you. You're going to have a hard time with this one, and some of you might be like, that sounds amazing, right? Like, I would love to do that and and so jump over to Instagram. I think I'm going to put up a poll or something this week 'cause, I would love to hear people’s takes on this of like, are you willing to even try this out you know, or is it just like way to anxiety producing like and I think that those of you, especially if this is like anxiety producing for you, you might be the one that needs it the most, right? Like this might actually be one of the things that shows you how much joy there actually is in running and just running for the sake of running and knowing that you are actually building towards those long term gains, but there's like heaven. You know you don't have to have all of the data every single run, every single day to know that you're actually improving.
KEVIN: Yeah, my my watch did not connect to my phone this morning on my run.
ANGIE: Oh no.
KEVIN: So like GPS did not connect, you know it was it was like wait for GPS connect. I'm like, no I'm I got out of bed a few minutes late.
ANGIE: I gotta go.
KEVIN: I'm just going to stay running and so I'm like 3 1/2 miles in and it just it suddenly it beeps at me, goes connected to GPS. I'm like, well, yes, now you have, but you I know this loop, I know where the one mile mark is I know where the two mile mark is and it kept beeping them in the wrong time so it's like, oh, this was your first mile pace I'm like well, it wasn't, because that's not where the market is and it hits the next one. Like, well, that wasn't it all either. So we know old pieces were totally wrong but I also know that I put the right effort forth into my workout so well, I I overall got the right, you know, general distance on on what the run was, but my watch was wrong through the whole thing. So that's the other thing, don't let it watch SAP your joy because it's not working the way that you want it to. Just go out and go for a run and enjoy whether there's a watch on your wrist or not. Don't let the watch on your wrist. Keep the phone away from it.
ANGIE: Yeah, you can also try to stop paying attention to it too. Okay, #6, sometimes running can be fun when looking back on it.
KEVIN: I like this one.
ANGIE: Great, so I really like this one too. So sometimes things are fun in the moment, right? Sometimes we can gain joy while we are in that moment, and sometimes it's not so joyful in the moment. It's not so fun in the time that you're actually doing it, but it's fun because you know that you're growing, you know that you're challenging yourself. And this is one of the ways that I really connect with joy in my life, both in my running journey and in my personal development journey and my business growth journey and like there's so many things that make me feel so uncomfortable in the moment, right? Like anytime you step out of your comfort zone, it feels uncomfortable. Hence comfort zone, right? Like so growth is uncomfortable It's easy to just kind of stay. Right. Where we are and not grow, we know this place. We're comfortable here. Things are good, right, but moving out of that and trying to grow and evolve and see what you're made of. See if you can get faster, see if you can run longer. See if you can achieve some of these big goals that are kind of floating around in the back of your mind to me that is such a joy inducing thing because it's me growing, it's challenging myself and I am just such a huge fan of like personal growth and development but it's uncomfortable in the process
KEVIN: So yeah, it's I can't rule I guess I was listening to that they they explained the three types of joys, so I don't know who whose idea this is. There is the three types of joy. Or sorry not three types of joy, 3 types of fun. Level 1 fun is as you're doing it, and fun when you look back at it, this is like eating ice cream, it's fine like this is good. OK, Level 2, level 2 fun is.
ANGIE: That might not be. That fun when you're looking back on it though if you over eat ice creams.
KEVIN: You know, just like a normal serving device.
ANGIE: Yeah, yeah.
KEVIN: It's like it's like there's or a cookie like in having a piece of desert, yeah. Most people put that into level one fun. It is fun as I'm doing it. It's just fun. Level 2 is not necessarily fun in the moment, but when you look back at it, you find it more fulfilling, OK? You look back and you're like that was awesome there tends to be nice stories that come out of this, not the most ridiculous stories, but quality stories about man, this was something awesome that I was able to work towards and achieve, even though a chunk of it, possibly lots of it during the time was not necessarily fun, I think a lot of racing falls into Level 2 fun.
ANGIE: That's that's what I was just about to say, I feel like a lot of like marathons or half marathons, right? Like there's always that point in the race that doesn't feel that, but then when you cross the finish line and. You realize what you've just accomplished then you're like, heck yeah, and that can bring you a lot of joy but this is where I think is also the difference between fun and joy.
KEVIN: Yes, yeah. So one fun moment 2. Not necessarily fun in the moment, but fun looking back at it. And then there's Level 3 fun, which seems like the weirdest thing because the description below with refund is this is not fun. Level 3 fun is not fun at the moment, and it's not necessarily even fun when looking back on it because you possibly will never do that thing again 'cause you realize how close to dying you got. This is like, I went out for a really long run and then it was really challenging but then I kept pushing myself and then I was on the verge of heat stroke and I collapsed on the side of the road like nothing about that is fun, but for some reason it gets counted as as Level 3 fun. Level 3 fund tends to make people stop doing it.
ANGIE: That doesn't seem like it should be in the fun category.
KEVIN: It was a very interesting podcast as listened to. Level 1 is great, and some people I think, Skip Level 1 fun in running. They think that every aspect of it has to be challenging and they're missing that level of it.
ANGIE: Like, sometimes you can just have fun runs that are fun just for, just for the sake of being fun.
KEVIN: Sometimes yes, sometimes just going and running should be fun. We probably have plenty of people listening right now that are like, wait, I can just go have fun for fun. They're living all of their running, whether it's a race or an easy training run as level 2 fun. Yeah, it has to be challenging so I can look back and feel fulfilled by it. No it doesn't. Sometimes it should be level one and it's just fun because it's fun. And then sometimes it should be level 2 and I think we should all avoid level three fun, it sounds like it's death defying.
ANGIE: It sounds interesting for sure, but I I will say that like our cross country kids today, like we just had an easy run and it was raining like and it was not lightning so we were OK to like send them out for run and it was just kind of that light drizzling type of rain, which I think is like some of the greatest running weather and the kids like they weren’t complaining about it.Or anything. And they were like, can we we run in the track and I was like you guys want to just do an easy distance, run on the track and they're like, yeah, I was like okay, if that makes you happy, you know. And I went out there and I was just standing there with my umbrella watching these kids run and they were having the best time. And I I, I wanted to say that this like I would venture to say that this is probably one of the best runs of the entire season for watching them run out there. Uhm, because a. they were all maintaining an easy pace. They weren't over pushing like they often tend to do, and pushing too hard, b. they weren't walking more than they needed to walk either and c. like they were running in groups, and they were talking to each other and they were just enjoying each other's company or they were enjoying the weather because that rain brought some cooler temperatures which here in South Florida in September are very welcomed. I am so jealous of all of you in northern like I have a friend that lives in Nebraska and she was like, it was 48 degrees this morning and it's gonna be like 85 this afternoon. I'm like, that sounds amazing. Like 48. Yeah, like 40 he was 85 when we woke for me to like wake up and go for a run then it warms up throughout the day. That sounds perfect, right? But so I'm very jealous of those of you that are starting to post about how lovely the fall weather is, is starting to turn out to be because down here. It's still summer junior.
KEVIN: When I got up at 5:00, it was 80 degrees outside.
ANGIE: Yeah, but anyway, so our cross country kids were just they were out there and there was just a sense of joy in them, which you know a lot of times they they give you push back, they complain, they do this. Their high school kids, right?
KEVIN: They were having fun.
ANGIE: They were having fun and I just sat like stood there under my umbrella watching them and it filled me with joy to, you know, like so actually, you know what that's not even on our list but like they'll watch a race, right like.
KEVIN: Oh yeah.
ANGIE: Go watch a race and watch other people achieve their goals that can bring so much joy. That's a little bonus one for you. Because watching other people achieve their goals and like do amazing things. Like just going and and spectating at a marathon or half marathon that can bring some joy to your life too.
KEVIN: Watch people strive for a goal like some people are achieving them, some people aren't, but watch everybody fight for it.
ANGIE: Well, it's like watching the Iron Man like I like we, we, you and I talk all the time about how growing up, we always used to watch the Kona Ironman race on NBC, right? Always watch that like and it's just one of those things that just like, Oh my God, I get it brings you joy watching these people like train and overcome their obstacles and all these back stories of all the things that they had to overcome to hit those races like it some of it Is sa some of its happy but all of it is joyful.
KEVIN: Yeah, I that's I think growing up watching the the Ironman World Championships is why I've gradually evolved into running Ultra race. I never had the desire to run, to participate in an Iron Man because I just don't find swimming entertaining enough to have to like work at it. Like I just don't. But running super long distances being out there for hour upon hour just there's something just so intriguing to me about that.
ANGIE: Yeah, alright. Finally, #7. Connect your running to a higher purpose. Guys, so for us, this is God. You know, there are a lot of people that run to glorify God. Maybe that's not your thing, but is there some sort of higher purpose or purpose outside of yourself that you can connect your running too. Like maybe it's running for a charity, you know, like there are a lot of people that love raising money for charity through running, right? And so can you connect your running to something outside of yourself. Because running can be a way to foster that connection like I see running as a way for me to take care of this gift of my body that I've been given. Like we get one body in this lifetime, and I see running as a way for me to honor that gift like I see it as a gift from God, and I want to do whatever I can to make the most of that gift and help other people also, which is part of our company. Help other people to make the most of their gift of their life you know, to be as active and as healthy as possible so they can live the life without limitations that they want to live.
KEVIN: I mean, you're basically quoting Steve Prefontaine there. To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift, like that's what that's what it is as we all have here. There are plenty of people who cannot literally go out and run. In the last cross country race we ran, they cut it short for lightning. And so there were kids getting pulled off the race and they've got this look of, like, disappointment on their face and I'm like, come on, come over here right now because their teammates that had made it past this, like cut off where they were like they were pulling people off the course. Some people have made it past that point and they were allowing him to finish the loop and they went from disappointment and upset on their face to no come over here and cheer your teammate in and something they were oh, oh wait, that's what I get to do I get to cheer them in and the kids that are struggling to come in and suddenly they look over and they see their teammate who they know was behind them and they're standing on the side cheering for them and I'm looking at him like they pulled them off the course they didn't get to finish. You better finish fast enough. And they were like, oh, OK, wait, I'm kicking it in. When you can see something bigger beyond yourself, however that is, however that works for you, you know, I like to see it as a gift that were all given and that I mean, to me, that gift was almost removed a few years ago, so I see so much joy in every chance I get to go out and race again and to run again. When I was in high school we used to do a lot of like visualization at my school about find the most beautiful place where you feel like you could connected to God and I always went to these different trails that we would run like that was always my like people were showing like, you know, Oh well, there's this room in my house or this spot in my church. I'm like, I don't know, there's this thought on a trail, right? Is it like it goes through one of the switch bags and like that spot that's not right there because the sun always cracks through the leaves in the trees and it's a solid canopy, but right there, the sun breaks through. That's my spot, yeah. So there are a lot of ways that you can find something that is bigger than you, I like your thought towards charity. That's also an amazing way that people can get into all sorts of aspects.
ANGIE: And then there's so many ways, right? And like maybe running is a spiritual practice for you already. And maybe you've never made that connection before. And so I would like to offer like how can you like, is this something that you want to try out? Again, these are options for you right? Like and I see running as a way to just continuously foster that connection and foster the connection maybe it's the the connection with Mother Earth, right? Maybe it's a connection with the divine. Maybe it's a connection to, like you said, the people that are no longer able to run, you know, unfortunately there was a tragedy in the running world, like a week or two ago at this point there was a woman that was abducted and killed and like there were a lot of people in social media that were running in, dedicating their miles to her, you know to, to Eliza Fletcher, like and finishing her run because she's no longer able to do that. Right or there are people that dedicate their runs to fallen soldiers or two amputees that are no longer able to do these things right? And so I think that when we can connect to something outside of ourselves, whether that's to other humans that we're trying to represent and run for or help or that's, you know, the higher power the Divine mother earth nature, like there are so many things outside of ourselves that we can connect to that can bring so much joy. And like one of the most joy filled moments for me is running along the beach, you know, here in South Florida and seeing the sunrise. And when I see that's unlike crack over the horizon, it's just like an immediate sense of like, wow, there's so much out there. That's bigger than I am you know and how blessed am I to be able to be here in this moment, moving my body in this way and see this beautiful site, you know, watching the sun crack the horizon and then watching the way that the rays fill the clouds and there's just, there's so much beauty around us and how running is a way for me to connect to that beauty. It's a way for me to connect to nature, you know, it's a way for me to connect to my higher self, you know, to my future self, to the future self that I want to become. There's just so many other ways that we can really go deeper and really go, you know, more ethereal with it, and I would invite you to explore some of that if you haven't already.
KEVIN: And it's sometimes kind of difficult to explore all of that and the deeper emotions of that if you're too busy staring at a watch and comparing yourself to previous versions of yourself. And oh man, this that mild pace wasn't fast enough. My GPS isn't connecting. Yeah, sometimes it's nice to just step back and just enjoy the experience. Level 1 fun is sometimes just a whole heck of a lot of fun.
ANGIE: Yeah. And one way that I like to do this too is like running on vacation, you know, exploring new places on foot. Like when we went to Savannah, Georgia I just, like started running around the city I had. No idea where I was going I was going to be out there for about 45 minutes to an hour, you know, you know, we went to Cleveland. I was running down, like on the riverfront and checking out the rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And like, you know, there's just some places that you're just like, this is right, this is very cool. I'm just going to go explore now, you know, like in exploring on foot is such a cool thing also that you're able to do.
KEVIN: Yes, yes it is.
ANGIE: So, hopefully this episode was helpful for you, and those are seven different ways that you know we would suggest that you could maybe try to add some more joy, or find that joy again and you're running and I would love to hear if you guys have any other suggestions, come find us on Instagram. Send me a DM at real life runners or you can find the post on, you know, this episode, episode #272. And tell us ways that you like to find joy in your running 'cause I would love to post those up to and just share your experience of experiences of finding more joy in your running journey as well.
KEVIN: And yeah, side check out everybody over @realliferunners on Instagram. We'll let you know how quickly it takes Angie to beat me in an arm wrestling competition.
ANGIE: Find your joy! All right you guys, if you haven't yet, go sign up for that webinar also. That workshop that I'm doing, in realliferunners.com/PR. So, that I can help you understand the Secret to your next PR.
And as always, thank you so much for spending this time with us today.
This has been the Real Life Runners Podcast Episode #272.
Now get out there and run your life!
