Ep #316: 5 Beginner’s Mindset Tricks to Help You Become a Runner

Welcome to The Not Your Average Runner Podcast. If you’ve never felt athletic but you still dream about becoming a runner, you are in the right place. I’m Jill Angie, your fat running coach. I help fat women over 40 to start running, feel confident, and change their lives. I have worked with thousands of women to help them achieve their running goals and now I want to help you.

Hey runners. So I am always thinking about those of you who want to start running but you haven’t quite pulled the trigger yet. And maybe you’re feeling anxious, or you’re worried it’ll be too hard, or you’re self-conscious about running in public. Or maybe you’re like, yeah, I just don’t have time to add something else to my life, but I like listening to this show in the meantime for when I’m ready to start.

Whatever it is, I want to help however I can because I know how much joy running has brought to my own life. So I am teaching a free class on September 6th, called How To Start Running When You’re Fat. And I am sharing all my best info on exactly what to do so that you can get started safely and confidently.

Now, the class starts at 7:30 pm Eastern on September 6th. It will also be recorded just in case you can’t make it live. If you want to register, go to notyouraveragerunner.com/runningfat, that’s all one word. Notyouraveragerunner.com/runningfat, enter your email and I will hook you up with all the info, okay?

One more time, that is notyouraveragerunner.com/runningfat. It is totally free and it is perfect if you have never been a runner. Or if you used to be a runner and you want to start again, it’s a great class for you, okay? I hope I see you there.

And since I’m in the mindset of helping out new runners today, we are going to talk all about beginner’s mindset. Because beginner’s mindset is, I mean, honestly, this is something that helps beginners, for sure. But if you’re an experienced runner, this is also helpful to you, as well. So keep listening because beginner’s mindset isn’t just for beginners. That’s what I have to say about that.

Now, I have coached thousands of women to start running. Literally thousands. And I have noticed that there are five things that are going to predict success, and they’re all actually really easy to do. It’s not about having expensive gear, or being the right weight, or even having the right fueling plan, right?

I mean, all of those things are great, but they are not necessary for anyone to get started and become a runner. Everything I’m about to teach you today is quite literally something you have access to right this moment, okay? So let’s dive in.

The first one is one of my favorite things to say, and I say this all the time in my Run Your Best Life coaching group. And that is, let’s just see what happens, right? And what that means is to approach your runs with curiosity and openness. Just drop the expectations.

Don’t think about whether it’s going to be easy or hard. Or don’t expect it to be one way or the other, whether you can do it or not because, here’s a spoiler alert, it’s probably going to be hard. I’m going to be honest. But also it might be easier than you think. You just don’t know.

And even if it is hard, you might still enjoy it. And I know you can do hard things, right? You’re a badass. Everywhere else in your life you’re a badass, you can be a badass here, too. And this is especially true if you follow the running plans that I teach, because I’m a fat runner and I coach fat runners and I know how to make things doable for whatever your fitness level is right now, okay?

So when you have expectations like, oh, this is going to be so hard, it’s going to be too hard for me, then guess what? It probably is going to be too hard for you. But if you put your shoes on and you say, hey, let’s just see what happens, you open yourself up to the possibility that there might be some fun stuff going on. All right?

So I also want you to drop the belief that you have to go a certain pace or a certain distance or run a certain amount of time for it to count, for it to matter. I want you to just put your shoes on and go with the let’s just see what happens attitude. And I know that might feel kind of stressful if you’re somebody who likes to know exactly what’s going to happen or how something should be.

If you like to have complete control, I feel you. I can feel there’s a few of you right now that are like, oh my God, I can’t just leave this up to chance. We’re not leaving it up to chance, right? You’re putting your shoes on, you have a rough plan of what you’re going to do. And you’re going to start, but you’re going to say, let’s just see what happens. Because you want to show up with curiosity and openness, rather than I have to control this and it has to look a certain way, all right?

So coming into it with that kind of attitude gives you the space to just experience your run without judgment, right? Without any expectations whatsoever. And that is where the magic happens, okay? So that’s number one. When you’re feeling stressed about the possibility of running, I want you to just put on your shoes, head out the door and say, all right, bitch, let’s just see what happens. Okay?

Now, the second tactic, and this might not be a super popular one for some of you, but it is a game changer. And I want you to just be okay with it feeling uncomfortable or hard or awkward. It’s running, it’s not going to be easy, especially in the beginning, all right?

So instead of telling yourself, oh, I’m just not cut out to be a runner because I can’t jog for more than 10 seconds without being out of breath, I want you to remember, of course you can’t, you’re brand new to running. Very, very, very few people are able to just start running and have it feel easy or start running and be able to run a 5k with no problem, right?

The rest of us have to start somewhere. We have to practice and train and struggle a little bit. And that doesn’t mean anything has gone wrong, it just means you’re a normal human being who is trying to become a runner, okay? Remember that.

When you’re out there on your very first run and you’re like, “Whoa, this is way harder than I thought,” I want you to think of this podcast and say, I’m just a normal human being who’s trying to become a runner, and this is what it feels like. It’ll feel easier next time and the time after that. I’m right where I’m supposed to be. Nothing has gone wrong, I’m just a normal human being trying to become a runner. Okay? Give yourself some compassion.

Number three, you’ve got to let go of the perfectionism. You’ve got to. And there’s actually two pieces to this. One is the perfectionism of thinking you have to be good at something to keep doing it, right? When you first start running, you’re going to suck at it. This is how it works. And that’s okay. You don’t have to be the best at everything. You can suck at running, and keep doing it anyway, all right?

So just because you go out there and it doesn’t feel easy or you’re not the fastest, that’s okay. It’s supposed to be that way. But the other piece of this perfectionism idea is don’t expect that you’re going to do every single workout that you plan or that some days you’re not going to feel motivated. Because running is not about checking off boxes on a training plan. It is about getting into your body and feeling the joy and power of movement.

And I mean, sure, if you want to get a gold star for never missing a workout, fine, okay? But don’t let that get in the way of you having fun and getting some meaning out of running, okay? And this part is super important, don’t let checking off a box or closing your apple rings or whatever it is make you go for a run when you’re exhausted or you’re burned out, right, or you’re sick. It’s not worth it.

And I coach so many women who get injured because they feel like if I miss a workout, I’ve failed. Or if I miss a workout, I might never run again, right? That one cracks me up. Somebody who’s worked out every single day for a month and they’re like, if I miss one I’ll probably never run again and so I can’t miss a day. No, I want you to listen to your body and not your step tracker, all right?

This whole never miss a Monday workout culture is like another form of perfectionism, right? And it has no place in running. Running can be messy. You know, we are talking about our bodies here. We don’t have 100% control over how our body feels every single minute of every day. So listen to your body, not your step tracker and let go of the perfectionism.

Okay, number four, I want you to have a sense of humor about yourself. All right? We all look silly or do dumb stuff sometimes while we run. Who cares, right? Everyone trips over the visible piece of dust on the sidewalk. I have literally face planted and turned around to see what I tripped over and there was absolutely nothing there, okay?

Everybody does that. We all trip or stumble a little bit. We all wave at somebody in the distance that we think we know and then it turns out it’s a stranger and they’re like, who are you, right? We all have derpy looks on our faces when we’re trying really hard. And we all get sweaty and red in the face and don’t look our best when we’re running, okay? It’s all good.

Runners pay, I should look up how much the race industry is, but each of us pays a ton of money sometimes to go and run with a few hundred or a few thousand other people, just for a free banana and a T-shirt we’re never going to wear again, right? It’s dumb. We run laps in our driveway like idiots so that we can stop our Garmin on an even number, okay?

I know people who have peed themselves while running, shit their pants, split their tights, I have seen people juggling while they run, I’ve seen them wearing T-Rex costumes or, tutus. Running is dumb, the whole sport. It is just ridiculous. And we have no need to run as humans, right? Walking is just fine for getting around. Nobody’s getting chased by a saber toothed tiger, okay?

But the thing is, running is also fun. And when you can laugh at yourself over the silliness of it all, you’re going to enjoy it a lot more, all right? So just have that sense of humor and recognize we all look stupid, we all do dumb stuff when we run. Nobody is watching you. Nobody cares. Just get out there and have some fun.

And then finally, number five. This probably should have been number one, go slow. Slow the fuck down, all right? Literally and figuratively. I want you to run slow when you first start so your body can adapt and so you can build up some stamina, right? This is going to help you avoid injury. It’s also going to give you incentive. If you start out slow and then a week later, you’re like, oh, look at that, with the same level of effort I’m actually going a little faster, right? It kind of gets exciting.

So starting out slowly gives you a place to go instead of starting out at your maximum capacity, right? It helps you avoid burnout, because when you are like, okay, I need to run every day and I’ve got to go at least 30 minutes a day or it’s not worth it, I don’t know, I predict you’re going to last about two weeks before you either get injured or you quit.

So I want you to start out by doing maybe two to three times a week, maybe 15 to 20 minutes of time, right? Use run/walk intervals. Do that running and walking and running and walking thing. It is so much easier to make progress when you start small, when you start at your current fitness level and build from there, okay?

Don’t run every day. Don’t run as fast as you can. I mean, honestly, if I had a dollar for every person I’ve talked to that’s like, well, obviously, I’m not meant to be a runner because I tried it and I got injured after two days. And I’m like, oh, really? Tell me about how you ran. Well, I went out and I tried to run for an hour. I’m like, okay, of course you got injured, right?

So, start slow. Let yourself be a beginner. It is so fun to be a beginner. It is a joy, okay?

All right, my friends. That’s what I’ve got for you today. Short and sweet. Make sure you sign up for the free How To Start Running When You’re Fat class, which is on September 6th. The link again is notyouraveragerunner.com/runningfat. And I hope this has been a helpful episode for you. If you liked it, please share it on Instagram. Let people know. And I’ll talk to you next week. But in the meantime, I love you, stay safe and get your ass out there and run.

Real quick, before you go, if you enjoyed this episode, you have to check out Run Your Best Life. It’s my monthly coaching program where you will learn exactly how to start running, stick with it, and become the runner you have always wanted to be. Head on over to runyourbestlife.com to join. I would love to be a part of your journey.