Ep #395: Global Running Day Special Episode!

Welcome to the Not Your Average Runner podcast. I’m Jill Angie, a certified running coach, and your running BFF here to help you start running. Feel confident and love the journey no matter your size. Now, if you’ve ever felt like you just weren’t meant to be a runner, think again. I believe that running is for all bodies, even yours.

This podcast is your warmup buddy, giving you tips, motivation, and the support you need to lace up and get moving. I’ve helped thousands of women become runners, and now I wanna help you. Let’s go.

Hey, hey runners. Welcome back to not your average runner, the podcast for plus-size women who wanna start running without apologizing for taking up space in the world. As always, I’m Jill. Angie, your pre-race emotional support human. Because today we’re talking about something that every single runner Yes, even the seasoned ones, deals with, and that is race day nerves and.

You know what I mean? It’s that fizzy, jittery, sort of low key panic that starts up maybe the day, two days before the race, the night before the race. And it like hits hard. The second you wake up, your heart is racing. You keep wondering if you’re gonna suddenly forget how to run. Your stomach is like, let’s process none of this breakfast.

Right? And suddenly you are convinced that you are going to fail spectacularly. Now pre-race nerves are normal and it just means that you’re doing something that matters to you and maybe something a little scary. Often it’s something your brain hasn’t seen before. Maybe it’s a new distance, or maybe you have done this distance before, but your brain just still doesn’t trust that you’re not gonna die this time.

Uh, brains are so dramatic. I love it. So today I’m gonna walk you through exactly how to calm the fuck down before a race because you can show up nervous and still crush it. You just need a game plan. Let’s go. Step one is to understand that your body is not trying to sabotage you. So let’s start with a mindset reset.

Those butterflies in your stomach, the pounding heart, the feeling you like, you might puke and cry at the same time. It is not a sign that something’s wrong. It is a sign that your body is doing what it is supposed to do. You are feeling what psychologists call somatic arousal. Basically, your nervous system is getting hyped.

Your heart rate goes up, your breath gets kind of shallow. Maybe you feel a little like itchy or restless. And we usually interpret those sensations as anxiety, like, oh my God, I’m freaking out. But here’s the thing, the same sensations happen when we’re excited. So what’s the difference? The difference is the story that you tell yourself about what’s happening.

So if you say, I’m excited, your body’s like, cool, let’s go. And if you say, I’m anxious, your brain is like, hit the brakes. So the next time that that nervous wave hits you remember, oh, this is just excitement. This is just my body getting ready for something super fun. It’s just. Energy. You don’t need to make the feelings go away.

You just need to shift how you interpret them. Okay, now step two is to make race day as predictable as possible. Nerves thrive in uncertainty, so if you wake up with no plan, your brain is gonna fill that gap with chaos and imaginary disaster scenarios. So the solution is to make race day predictable for your nervous system.

The night before, you’re gonna do a full race day dry run. Lay out your clothes, everything, head to toe socks to undies, to headband, to all the things. Pin your race bib to your shirt the night before. And as a pro tip, and as somebody who has struggled with this on the day of the race, it is very hard to pin a race bib straight on your shirt while you’re wearing the shirt.

I’ve learned this. It sucks. It’s annoying. You get in arguments with your husband about it. So instead, pin your bib to your shirt the night before so you can see that it’s straight and exactly where you want it, and you don’t have to worry about it. Now you’re gonna pack your bag the night before your go bag with headphone, snacks, extra socks, sunscreen, body glide, change a shirt for afterwards, gum, chapstick, tissues, all the things I want you.

Over prepared and smug. And then you’re also gonna map out parking. So look at the race course. Know what time you need to leave, know what the road closures are gonna be, know where the parking is, how long it’s gonna take to get there. Spend some time thinking it through and set your alarm accordingly.

Now you do get bonus points if you leave a little motivational note in your shoe or on top of your phone that says like, Hey, gorgeous, go get that medal. This is also a great way to prepare and help shift your brain into that excitement instead of anxiety. Now, the third step is to coach your brain instead of arguing with it.

This one is important. The night before the race, your brain is gonna get loud. It’s gonna throw everything at you. You didn’t train far enough, you didn’t train long enough. You’re gonna come in last. You don’t belong at this race. Everyone’s gonna stare. You’re gonna have to poop at mile two. Here is the deal.

You cannot logic your way out of those thoughts in that moment when you’re experiencing that, that anxious feeling, right? So instead, you’re gonna acknowledge and redirect. You’re like, Hey, brain, I see that you are feeling scared. That’s okay. I’ve got this. Then write down every shitty mean, dramatic thought your brain offers.

Seriously. Just make a list, write it out, get it all outta your head. And then next to each one, write the actual truth. All right. I didn’t train enough, becomes I trained enough to be here and I’m allowed to walk if I need to. Uh, and if you’re, if you’re training with me, I know that you are doing run walk intervals, so you’re already ahead of the game there.

I. So I’ll be last becomes, there is literally no shame in finishing last. Also, the race organizers are not going to leave without me because that is illegal and everyone’s gonna stare at me, becomes, yeah, other people are worried about their own race. I am not that important. And if they do stare well, that is their problem.

So coaching yourself means you respond with compassion and facts, not self criticism. Number four, I want you to breathe and not breathing like you’re at a six on the RPE scale and you’re in the cardio zone, right? No, breathe. To relax. So sometimes our brains are just too loud to even have a conversation with.

They are just screaming in our faces and we’re like, okay, I’m gonna skip the pep talk and we’re going right to breathing. So you’re gonna try this. You’re going to inhale for four counts. 1, 2, 3, 4. You are going to hold that for four more counts. 1, 2, 3, 4. Then you’re going to exhale slowly for six to eight counts.

Like really let that breath out super slow and controlled. And then you’re gonna do that three more times. And what this does is it activates your parasympathetic nervous system, and that is the part that says, Hey, we’re safe. It’s okay to calm down. You’re fine. You can do this at the starting line in the car while you’re in line with the porta-potty.

Especially there, especially if you’re like me and you are always like, I’m just gonna go pee one more time before they start the race. And then you realize that the race is starting while you’re still in the line. It’s a good time to do that breathing. So if you can breathe slowly, if you can focus on your breath, you can start to think clearly.

So don’t underestimate the power of this technique. Now the final step, what if I freak out mid-race? Okay, I get it. It happens. I have seen this happen to friends of mine where they got halfway through and all of a sudden were like, I’m not gonna be able to finish. Even though they could have, and they were fine.

Their brain just got, got sort of short circuited and they had a meltdown and it’s, you know that it’s a lot to talk somebody through that. So I’m gonna give you. A couple thoughts on how you can talk yourself through it, especially if you’re in a race by yourself. So if you get halfway through and you are suddenly thinking, what the hell am I doing?

Why did I sign up for this? Um, or maybe you are slower than you hoped and you’re, you’re having thoughts about getting swept. Maybe your stomach’s doing weird things. Um, you’re like, crap, I don’t even know where the next porta-potty is. Or maybe your legs are just really, really tired more than you expected.

I want you to know you are allowed to slow down. You are allowed to sit down if you need to. There is no bonus medal for pushing through a panic attack, so walk, stop, shake it out. Take some water. Do the breathing right, four counts, four counts, six to eight counts. Remind yourself nothing has gone wrong. I can finish this.

I’m gonna take one step at a time, one interval at a time, and I will get there. So it is totally normal to have a mid-race meltdown. What matters? Is how you react to it, what you do next. Okay? Every step you take forward is a victory. Do not feel like you’ve done something wrong or like you’re weak if you have a meltdown in the middle of the race.

Because guess what? You are a human. Sometimes humans have meltdowns. It doesn’t mean anything about you, but there are things that you can do to help bring it back and keep going. Now the final thing is to redefine your success ahead of time before your race day. I want you to ask yourself, what would make this race a win?

No matter what happens. And that is not what’s my goal time? Or how much should I run versus walk, or what’s my pace? Right? Ask yourself the things that really matter. Do I wanna feel proud of myself at the end? Do I wanna prove to myself that I can do hard things? Do I wanna have fun and soak it all in?

What is your definition of success? All right, because if your only definition of success is to run the whole thing at a specific pace, you’re kind of setting yourself up for disappointment and you’re missing the actual point of running. You showed up, you trained, you stood on that start line. Even if your brain was screaming, that is so much more than most people will ever do.

All right? You don’t have to earn your space. You belong just by showing up. So define your success ahead of time. So that you know I am a badass. Okay. I will tell you, years ago I trained for a marathon and I told myself through the entire experience, it was the farthest I’d ever gone. I told myself through the entire experience, my goal is to make it through marathon training.

Everything else is just cake. I made it through marathon training. I did all the training runs. I did the 20 mile training run that. I was like the whole time going, I can’t believe I’m doing this. Race day sucked. It was freezing sleet. Rain. My feet were soaked before the race even started. By the half marathon point, I had bloody blisters on my feet.

Everything hurt. And I was like, this is not, I don’t wanna do this for another three hours. I’m just, I’m just done. Right. I was just done. And so I caught the van, I caught the, uh, the sweep wagon. Back to the finish line. Waited for Andy who was out there in the rain running the marathon. And I, I kind of cried a little bit.

I was like, wow, I really failed. And then I thought, no, I didn’t fail. ’cause my goal was to train for a marathon. And in training for that marathon, I pushed myself farther than I’d ever pushed myself before. I did things I would not have done if I had not set that huge goal for myself. So. I ended up feeling super proud of myself and just really kind of in awe of, wow, you’re actually capable of so much more than you think you are.

Even though I didn’t finish the race, it was everything that led up to it that made me proud. So do yourself a favor and really define success, not in terms of running a, a specific pace, but in terms that are more meaningful to you. Okay. All right. Final pep talk. You are strong. You are ready. Being nervous means you care.

Not that you’re not capable. You have done hard things before and you’re gonna do them again. And the race is just a celebration of your strength, of your commitment, of your refusal. To believe that fat bodies can’t be athletic. Let the nerves be there and let the joy be there too. Now, if you want a community of badass women cheering you along every step of the way, come hang with us and run your best life.

We’ve got training plans. We’ve got weekly coaching, we’ve got Mindset Tool. We have the best damn hype squad in the world, and you can join us at Run Your Best life.com or go to that link in the show notes. That is it for this week, my friend. Remember, I believe in you. You are a badass, and you can do hard things, and I will see you or talk to you next week.

Hey, hey runner, and welcome to a very special Wednesday episode of the Not Your Average Runner podcast. And yes, I know we usually hang out on Thursdays, but this week we’re doing something different because it’s global Running day. This day is for you. And whether you are lacing up for your very first run or your 5000th run, today’s episode is all about why this holiday matters, especially for those of us in bigger bodies, and how you can celebrate in a way that feels fun and meaningful and a hundred percent yours.

So let’s start out with a little bit of background. Global Running Day started in 2009 as National Running Day in the US and it was just a very simple celebration of running as a sport. Um, and something that’s, you know, that we all love to do now. By 2016, it had grown so much that it became global running day.

And now every year, on the first Wednesday in June, millions of people in around the world take part by going for a run. Um. You know, it’s kind of fun to know that like all of us as runners around the world are all on the same day saying, yes, I’m gonna go for a run today because I’m a runner. But here’s what I really love most about this holiday, is that there are no rules, right?

You can run fast, you can run slow, you can run a marathon or a 10th of a mile. You can do it on a treadmill, you can do it outside. You can do it around your kitchen table while you’re coffee brews, right? If you move your body with the intention of running, it counts. And it’s not about competition, it is about celebration.

So the reason that this matters so much, in particular for plus size runners, is that I. You know, there are times when we are a bit excluded from the running community. Uh, you know, in particular if there’s a race that you wanna do, but there is a time limit that you are just not gonna be able to meet. Or maybe it’s a local running group that you wanna join, but again, their pace is, is just faster than you’re able to keep up with.

And so it’s not a fun experience. There’s just a lot of times where larger bodied runners, if you are also a slower runner. Runner, which many of us are, um, the running community isn’t quite as inclusive as it could be, but on global running day. There is no, there’s no exclusion because you get to celebrate it your own way.

And I think so many of us have spent years thinking that we have to earn our place in this sport, right? By either losing weight or getting faster, or we, we think, like I can’t call myself a real runner until I hit this pace, or I’m able to do this distance. And you know that the truth is that none of that.

Is valid, and I think Global Running Day is a great time for us to remember that you’re just a runner because you decide to run, not because of your size or your pace or your distance, none of it, right? You belong here and Global Running Day is all about visibility. When you in your incredible and powerful and unapologetically fat body show up and say, Hey, I’m a runner too.

You are doing something revolutionary. You are reminding the world that running belongs to everybody. You are not just celebrating it, you are reclaiming it. And celebrate. We will my friends. And it is gonna be fun if you are listening to this, by the way, after Global Running Day. ’cause I know not everybody gets up at 6:00 AM and rushes to their podcast app to download the latest.

Um, if you’re listening to this later, you can still celebrate on a day that’s convenient for you because that’s how we roll here. Remember I said there’s no rules with Global Running Day. You get to celebrate it the way you want to. And again, you don’t need to run 10 miles. You don’t. You can do it however you want, but I’m gonna give you seven doable and fun and maybe a little rebellious ways to mark this occasion.

Alright? And the first one is kind of obvious. Go for a run, whatever that means for you. A mile a minute, run to the end of your driveway and back. No, there’s no minimum. Just move with intention. Run the way you run. And think about how awesome you are while you’re doing it. The second way to do it, to observe it and to again, like reclaim running for all bodies, is to post a photo somewhere on Instagram, on Facebook, on Blue Sky, wherever you are with the hashtag global running day.

Okay? Because visibility is power. Representation matters. And I want you to let the world see that runners look like you. All right? And by the way, feel free to tag me at not your average runner when you post this, ’cause I wanna hype you up. All right. Now, number three. This one might be a little outta your comfort zone, but I promise it’s gonna feel real good.

Tell someone you’re a runner, just tell somebody that does not know. Tell them you’re a runner. It is small, but is mighty okay. Um, you could say it, you could tell somebody that you do know that you’re a runner. Maybe somebody that you know knows you’re a runner, but they’ve never heard you actually claim it.

Or, you know, tell, tell the world. Tell your cat. Post it on social. Declare it in the group chat. Yell it from your front porch. Say it out loud, because owning that identity, even if it feels kinda weird at first, is a radical act. It is choosing to see yourself as the main character in your story, it is saying, I get to define what a runner looks like, and spoiler alert, she looks like you.

Okay. Now, number four also might be a little bit outta your comfort zone, and that’s okay. Invite a friend to come running with you and. It does not have to be a friend that’s already a runner, or it can be a friend that runs a lot faster than you and you say like, Hey, you wanna come and run at my pace today?

Because running it can feel a little bit lonely sometimes. It doesn’t have to though. So invite your bestie, your partner, your kiddo. I a complete stranger. I don’t know. I don’t care. Maybe even just somebody who’s been curious about running but unsure where to start. You could be their starting point today.

Is that perfect? No pressure day to do it ’cause you’re like, Hey, it’s global running day. This is a day where we just relax and have a good time with running no rules. Invite somebody to come along with you and introduce them to the sport and get them hooked as well. Now, number five, this one I think is kind of fun.

It is to write a love note to your future running self. So put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and write something like, I am so fucking proud of how far you have come. Or, I see you showing up. I, I notice, um, I know you didn’t quit when things got hard. Just write yourself a love note and then stash it somewhere that you’re gonna find it in three months or a year from now.

Make it like a little time capsule and like let your future self know how proud of her you are. And I’ve done this for myself. And let me tell you, finding those notes that I wrote like a year later, it’s such a delight. ’cause like it’s a little time capsule. It’s a little mirror into what I was thinking, how I was feeling back then.

And then I actually get to see like, oh wow, I came really far in that time and I’m really proud of me. All right. Number six is to do a reflection on why you run. And you can do this before your run. You can do it during your run, you can do it after your run, but just here’s some questions to ask yourself to get your brain working and thinking about why you’re a runner.

So the first is, why do I run? What do I get from it that has nothing to do with pace or weight? What do I get from running? How do I want to feel during. Or after this run and what part of me am I honoring by showing up today? Alright. And let the answers guide your run. Okay? Don’t worry about the time on your watch or the distance or anything, like use today’s run to really experience what running gives you.

Okay, like we’re not gonna stress about data. We’re gonna be in the moment and like really connecting with why running is so powerful for us. Now, number seven is super fun and one of my favorites, and that is to dress up for your run. And what I mean by that, I don’t mean to wear a boa and a tutu and high heels.

You can, I do not recommend the high heels, the boa and the tutu. You can totally do, but you can also just wear your boldest leggings or your favorite running T-shirt that has like a saying on it that you really love. Dress up, show up and strut. Strut again, like that main character in your own story. Own it and be that wild ass running person that you’ve always wanted to be.

Okay? So those are seven ideas. You can try all seven. You can pick one or three. I don’t care. Have fun with it. And, and just really like take today to recognize how far you’ve come with running. And hey, even if today is your first run, you’ve come pretty far because you’ve gone from a place of thinking, I don’t know if I can do this to deciding yes I can.

And that sometimes is the biggest distance to cover in the journey of being a runner. So today is your day, and I just want you to know I’m really proud of you and I’m really happy for you. Now, I’m gonna give you an eighth bonus idea to celebrate. That is to join us inside. Run your best life. So if you have been, if you’re just starting or if you’ve been running solo for a while and you’re craving like some community and encouragement and structure and guidance, right?

Run your best Life is the place for that. This is where fat slow newbie. Or starting over again, runners can thrive. And what I’m doing for Global Running Day as my personal celebration is to give you a killer deal to celebrate all year long. So right now. From June 4th through Sunday, June 9th, you can join, run your best life you can, and you can sign up for a year with us for just $290.

That is like half off the monthly price, okay? And it includes training plans made for plus size runners from beginner through marathon. You get weekly group coaching calls with me, you get access to our private encouraging zero judgment community. On demand workshops, on everything from injury prevention to mindset.

You get a private podcast, and most of all, you get to belong to an incredibly inclusive community. It’s more than just a running group. It’s more than just a coaching program. It is a movement, a movement of women who are done waiting to feel worthy. And it is open to you right now. Okay? So again, $290 for a full year.

Ha. That’s literally half off the monthly price, and you can head over to run your best life.com to grab it. Join us before the deal ends at midnight on June 9th. Wait, June 9th, June 8th. Oh my goodness. Uh, fuck it. June 9th. It is. I said it. So we’re gonna do it till June 9th. Anyway, go to run your best life.com or the link in the bio, sorry, not in the bio, the link in the show notes.

And join us because I believe in you, and especially if you are just starting out on this journey, this is the place that you need to be. Okay, so my friend, whether you run today or whether you rest, because also rest is an important part of everyone’s training plan. Whether you celebrate big or you, you do a small thing to recognize it.

I want you to hear this loud and clear. You’re a runner. You don’t need to be thin, you don’t need to be fast, you don’t need permission. Global running day is for all of us. All right, so go lace up, snap a picture. Tag me. Let the world know that fat runners are here and we are strong and joyful. And I will see you out there, my friend, and hopefully I will see you in Run your best life.

Run your best life.com. Go get it girl, and I will talk to you next week.

Real quick before you go, I’ve got a fun challenge for you. Take my exerciser personality quiz to find out exactly what kind of exerciser you are and how to make running feel easier and more enjoyable.

Just head over to not your average runner.com/quiz to take it and get your results. That’s not your average runner.com/quiz.