Ep #266: Three Must-Do Self-Care Tips for Runners

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 you might think that self-care for runners is all about getting sports massages and proper hydration. Those things are definitely on the list, but there is probably a lot that you don’t think about. And that’s what we’re going to dive into today.

But before I do that I do want to tell you about Up And Running because Up And Running is an online running class especially designed to help fat runners start running safely, feeling confident and proud, and even having fun with it. It is 30 days of learning and practicing the foundational skills of running along with the mindset work necessary to stay motivated to keep going.

So we’re going to be covering running form, and breathing, and pacing, and run/walk intervals. What gear to buy, strength training, stretching, how to turn around negative self-talk, how to stay motivated, how to train for your first 5k and tons more. And I will be coaching live in that class every single week so we can actually talk over video if you want to, how fun is that? And every live coaching call is also recorded, so you can listen to it later on.

Now, the class officially starts on September 20th, registration is open right now. And this is actually the last time I’m going to be teaching this class until summer 2023. So you’re going to want to get signed up today so you don’t miss anything.

Now, you can register for the class at notyouraveragerunner.com/upandrunning. Okay, that’s notyouraveragerunner.com/upandrunning, we’ll also have a link in the show notes. And it costs $98 to join, you get lifetime access to all of the materials and the Facebook group. It is an amazing deal and I cannot wait to see you there.

All right, let’s dive into self-care. And, I mean, the good news is self-care, well, actually there is not a lot of great news about self-care. Yes, there is. Self-care is powerful, self-care can really make your running experience so, so much better. But unfortunately, it’s not sexy, right? Self-care is work and it often gets left behind because it’s not the fun part of running, right? It takes effort, it doesn’t give us that hit of instant gratification.

Think about maintenance on your car, right? You do oil changes, tire rotations, new brakes, right? When you invest money into this stuff, you get in your car and you’re like, well, it doesn’t look any different. Seems like it kind of runs about the same, but I know I need to do it because I want my car to actually last a long time. I want it to run well. I don’t want to end up stranded by the side of the road because my engine seized up because I stopped putting oil in it, right?

So it’s like it doesn’t give us that little hit of gratification or excitement when we maintain it. But we do it because we know it’s important and we need our car to be running well all the time so that we can get to work, so we can get to wherever we’re going.

But a lot of times we don’t think of self-care the same way. And this is where I want you to sort of flip the script in your brain, okay? Self-care is not exciting, but it does mean that you’re going to feel a lot better while you are out there running, okay?

So, much like maintenance on your car, which you prioritize your car, but we don’t always prioritize our bodies. It’s crazy, isn’t it? Because you can see, okay, I paid, I don’t know, $30,000 for my car. So of course I’m going to invest money into keeping it running and I need my car so I can go to work. I need my car so I can go to the grocery store. I need my car so I can go on vacation, drive my kids around.

But we don’t look at our bodies the same way, but your body is way, way, way more important in your life than your car because you only get the one body you can’t buy a new one, right? So I want you to think about self-care as necessary maintenance that, it might not be sexy, it might not be exciting, but it’s going to make your life so much easier.

So when it comes to running I like to be break self-care into three primary areas. And those three areas are mental, physical, and planning. Okay? Now the mental side of self-care is basically just tending to your thoughts, right? Creating an internal emotional environment that supports your success.

The physical side of self-care is exactly that, it is the things you do to keep your physical body in great shape for running. And then the planning side is all the work that you do to clear the runway so you can do all the activities that keep you mentally and physically fit to run, okay? And I know it might sound like a lot, but it’s actually pretty simple. We’re going to break it all down right now. And I’m going to start with mental self-care.

Now, I have said it a million times, I’m going to say it a million and one, running is 80% mental and only 20% physical. When we train for a race, we often focus all of our attention on the miles that we’re running. We’re like, I got to get the miles in, I got to get it done. And what happens is, then we neglect our thinking even though our thoughts are what is actually getting us out the door to do the run.

Our thoughts are actually also what keep us going when it feels hard, right? So our thoughts are what is driving us, but our thoughts are also the reason that we skip runs, or we quit early, or we beat ourselves up afterwards because it didn’t go the way we want it to, right? You don’t do anything without having a thought about it first.

So what exactly is a thought? I mean, I know you know what a thought is, but let’s review my definition here. So a thought is basically a sentence that you speak or hear in your mind, right? It’s occurring in your brain. Sometimes you speak it out loud, but most of the time it’s the thoughts that you have in your mind.

And sometimes our thoughts are factual, like the sky is blue, okay? Or the sky is reflecting light at such and such wavelength, right, which my retina perceives as blue. So that’s a factual thought. But most of the time our thoughts are simply opinions that we have based on our life experiences, like, oh, the sky is really beautiful.

So every thought that you think creates an emotion that drives your actions. So if you think oh, the sky is really beautiful, you might feel joyous and take the action of stopping to look at it for a while.

Now, how does this apply to running? Well, you have lots of thoughts about yourself when you’re a runner. So many thoughts, oh my goodness. Especially if it’s a long run and it’s just you out there on the pavement or on the trail, you’re going to have so many thoughts.

And sometimes those thoughts are things like, “Hot damn, I just ran my first mile, I am amazing.” And when you think that thought, you feel proud and then you usually might take the action of planning your next run. Now, sometimes we have thoughts like, “I’m too fat to run in public,” or “I’m too slow,” or “I don’t know what I’m doing.” And then we feel ashamed or embarrassed and the action we take is to avoid running.

Now, I want you to notice that neither of those thoughts is actually true, right? The thought that, “Hot damn, I’m amazing because I just ran my first mile” or the thought, “I’m too fat to run in public,” or “I don’t know what I’m doing,” right, neither of those thoughts is true. They’re just opinions you have based on how you view the world, right? How you were raised, the type of people you’ve interacted with, the things you’ve seen in the media.

Now, if you grew up being told that fat people are lazy and unmotivated and should always be trying to lose weight, well you’re probably going to have different thoughts about yourself running than somebody who was constantly taught that your body size has nothing to do with your worth and your abilities, and you can do anything you want.

Now, if you’re one of those people, like I was, who was raised to believe that being fat is something to avoid, well, you might believe, okay, well, I’m just stuck with those beliefs and that kind of sucks. It doesn’t feel great when we think that way.

But here is where it gets super interesting, your beliefs and thoughts can change, okay? How do I know this? Well, first of all, you are here listening to this podcast, which means you’ve probably already started to think that maybe running is a thing that you can do. You’ve already started to change your thinking, right?

If you haven’t been a runner and then you’re like, maybe I’m going to listen to that podcast and see if it’s possible, it means your thinking is already shifting. Now, if you’ve been running for a while, if you’re a more experienced runner, you’ve definitely changed your thinking about running, otherwise you’d still be wondering if you can do it.

So we know that thoughts and opinions and everything can change over time. We do it a lot. We change our beliefs all the time, most often it happens sort of under the radar. But when I talk about mental self-care for runners, I mean, looking at the beliefs that are getting in your way and working on changing them on purpose. Like literally deciding what you want to believe and then start practicing it.

Now, here’s an example, when you are thinking, “Oh, if people see me running in public, they’re going to be silently mocking me,” you might feel embarrassed. Which is going to lead you to either skip your run, or maybe quit early. You know, if you’re out running and you notice somebody looking at you, you’re like, “Oh gosh, they’re looking at me and I got to go home now.”

But there are so many other things that you could believe instead of that, right? You could decide to believe it’s okay if people see me running. Other people’s opinions aren’t going to hold me back from doing what I want to do. And that thought can make you feel empowered, which means you’re actually going to do your run.

Now, you could also choose to believe that most of the other people that see you are silently cheering you on, right? Which I mean, when I see somebody else out there running, I don’t care who it is, I’m like, “Go, run, have fun with it.” Right? You could choose to believe that they’re not noticing you at all. You could choose to believe so many other things about the circumstance of you running in public in the body you have right now.

So your mental self-care is kind of looking at what you currently believe that might be getting in the way of you running, of you doing what you want to do, and then working on thinking differently on purpose when those automatic thoughts come up. And they will come up, right?

If you spent your life thinking thoughts about your possibilities as a runner, or as an athlete, or just thinking like, “Oh, I’m just not good at exercise,” right? If you’ve spent your life thinking that, those are automatic thoughts, they’re gonna keep popping up, right? So we just decide on purpose what we want to think instead. And when the old thoughts come up, we’re like, “Oh, wait, that’s right, I’m working on changing my beliefs.” And we work on practicing the new thoughts.

Now, I teach this concept in episode 33 of this podcast in a lot more detail. But I can tell you, if you spend a few minutes a day right now just practicing new ways of thinking, deciding on purpose what you want to think, start practicing it, you’re going to be amazed at the difference.

And the same goes for feeling motivated, right? This is another thing I hear a lot, not just from new runners, but from runners that have been doing it for a while. They’re like, “Oh gosh, I just don’t feel motivated right now. What’s wrong with me?”

And very often we have these automatic thoughts, for example, when the alarm goes off in the morning, right? The first thing that comes into my mind is I don’t want to go for a run, every single time. And guess what? When I think that thought, and when you think that thought, you’re going to feel unmotivated and you’re probably not going to go for a run.

So mental self-care means you plan ahead for that moment and decide, okay, tomorrow morning I have a run scheduled, I will probably not want to do it. When that moment comes, I’m not going to be down to go for a run. So what am I going to think instead when my brain throws out, you know, that pile of shitty excuses that makes me feel unmotivated?

For me, it’s often as simple as, yeah, you know what? I don’t want to do it right now, but I really want the feeling I’m going to have when I finish, so it’s worth it to me to be a little uncomfortable in the moment so I can feel that post workout glow, right? It’s just I know it’s not going to be fun, that’s okay.

One of the coaches that works for me says you don’t need a ticker tape parade, just get out there and do it. So sometimes that’s actually what I say to myself, I say, “Jill, get your ass out of bed, the patriarchy isn’t going to smash itself and you can’t do it if you’re spending the whole day feeling guilty about missing your workout. Just go.” Right?

So whatever resonates with you, whether it’s humor, or tough love, or compassion, or flat out logic, right, little bit of competition with yourself, whatever resonates with you, create thoughts that drive that action that you want to be taking. That’s mental self-care, all right? It’s not always fun. In fact, it’s rarely fun but it is always, always worth it because on the other side is a stronger, fitter, happier, calmer you.

Now if you’re thinking, okay, yeah, this makes sense, but I also have no idea how to even start working on my thoughts. Well, we do spend two whole weeks on your mental strength in the Up And Running program, I’m just saying. I’m just going to put that out there.

Now, the physical side of self-care, that can end up being a pretty long list of things, which is why most people get sidetracked here because they think, “Oh my god, how am I going to do it all? I have to be perfect or I’m going to fail.” And then if they mess something up they’re all up in their thoughts and heads about it, it stops them in their tracks, right?

Can you see how your thinking is actually the most important thing to take care of? Because you’re not going to get any of the physical stuff done if your brain has the thought, there’s too much to do, there’s too much to do just kind of playing over and over again. You’re going to spend all your time feeling overwhelmed and avoiding running.

But if you shift into thinking something like, I’m just going to pick the three most important things, or the two most important things, whatever it is, and focus on those, you’re going to find that you get a lot more traction than if you think you have to do everything, okay?

So another thought to have here is perfection does not serve me. I love this thought for myself because sometimes I actually do tend to be a little bit of a perfectionist. And not that I’m like, oh, everything has to be perfect and I keep working really hard until it’s perfect. But more from the perspective of, well, if I can’t be perfect at it, I don’t even want to bother, right? And I know there are people out there that can relate to that.

So I’m just like, you know what? 75%, that’s my version of perfection. I’m just going to aim for 75% and be happy with that. And if you do that, you’re going to find that your training is a lot easier and that you get a lot more of your self-care activities done, which makes your training easier.

Your training can be easy or hard also depending on your thoughts. Your thoughts can influence whether your training is easy or hard. It is truly that simple. Like yes, running itself is hard from the perspective of you’re doing more work in your body and physically you’re doing things that require more from your body.

So from that perspective, it’s hard. But with your thinking, we often turn running into suffering, right? We’re like, “Oh my god, this is the worst ever. When is it going to be over?” Right? That is suffering. With your thinking, you can also turn it into something enjoyable, something empowering, right? It is literally all up to you.

So let’s talk about the physical piece of self-care. Now there’s a million things you could be doing to support your running, right? Everything, again, from weekly sports massages, to acupuncture, to ice baths, to personalized electrolyte mixes, right? And all of that stuff is great, but I think that’s bonus stuff.

There are three basics that I want you to focus on with your physical self-care. And once you nail those three, you can add in whatever else you want. And again, by nail those three, I mean get them done maybe 75% of the time, right? If you focus on that, get those where they need to be, your training is going to be so much more productive, you’re going to feel so much better, I promise.

All right, you ready? The three things are sleep, strength training, and stretching. And yes, I did not include nutrition and hydration in there because I think that sleep and strength training and stretching are actually more important, and if you’ve got those going on, then you’re going to move on to the hydration and the nutrition.

And I know, sleep, strength training, and stretching, not the sexiest thing ever. Again, self-care is not sexy, but you know what is sexy? You know what is hot as fuck? A body that feels energized and healthy, and a mind that is full of thoughts that are going to help you achieve your goals.

So here’s why I think sleep, strength, and stretching are the top three for your physical self-care. Because, first of all, when you are getting quality sleep, your body recovers so much better and so much faster from all of your training. And that means when you are training it’s easier and it is more productive.

And I’m not saying you need to be getting 10 hours a night. But if you can see your way to getting six to seven quality hours of sleep a night, and maybe a couple nights a week getting eight hours, you are really going to reap the benefits, okay?

And here’s the thing, there’s some rough choices, right? You’re going to need to give up some late night Netflix sessions. If your current self-care is like, “Oh, that’s my me time, I need to stay up and I like to relax with a glass of wine and some Netflix sessions.” I get it, but I think you’re going to get more bang from your buck if you sleep, right? If you sleep.

Honestly, you might have to give up on some household tasks. You might have to, if you’re that person that’s up late folding laundry or doing whatever it is, right? Or if you’re that person who’s up late checking your emails for the next day, I get it. You’re going to get more bang for your buck if you spend that time sleeping. Because first of all, the emails that you’re answering the night before, you can answer the next day, right?

And if you’ve spent that extra hour or two sleeping, you’re going to be so much more effective and clear headed, right? Most of the time, the housework, right, if that is the thing that you are spending your evenings doing, most of it can wait, right? Or you can outsource it or get the partner to do it, get kids to do it, or just say it’s okay if my house isn’t completely spic and span because my sleep is more important.

So it’s about making choices and prioritizing what the most important thing is to you because, contrary to popular belief, you can’t have it all. There is only 24 hours a day. And I mean, yes, technically, we all have the same 24 hours, but most of us do not have like nannies and personal assistants and all the things, right?

Most of us have responsibilities, and jobs, and families, and we do actually have to make some choices. And I just want to put a bid in for choosing sleep will pay you back so much on the back end, even more than massages, or weekly food prep sessions or any of that, right? Sleep is going to pay you back.

So if you want to learn more about improving your sleep you can Google sleep hygiene, read the book, Why We Sleep by Michael Walker, and pro tip, download the audible book and listen while you run.

And really spend some time understanding why this is so important because it’s not just that it feels better to be sleeping, but while you are asleep your body is repairing muscles, and it is cleaning up cellular debris, and it is processing thoughts, and memories, and events from the day. And your body needs that quality sleep time to kind of give you a clean slate for the next day. So it’s just such a powerful, powerful thing, a powerful gift to give yourself.

Now, strength training is number two on the physical self-care list, and this is another thing I want you to make time for. And the reason for that is, first of all, it’s going to help keep you injury free. It’s going to help you with your endurance. And it’s going to basically benefit you everywhere else in your life, okay?

When your running muscles are strong, they support your joints, like your knees and your hips. So strong muscles means a lot less joint pain. Strong muscles also improve your balance and your stamina for running, can make you faster. And your routines don’t have to be complicated, they don’t have to use a lot of equipment.

You don’t need a gym or a personal trainer, right? You’re just going to search strength training for runners on YouTube and you will come up with so many options, right? Or you could join Up And Running, you will get my short and simple routines that I designed especially for women like you.

But really, strength training does not have to be complicated. It can be very, very simple, use very little equipment, be done right there in your living room while you’re watching Netflix and use very little equipment.

And finally, I want to talk about stretching because you all need to be taking the time to stretch. And here’s the thing, most new runners are doing it wrong, and a lot of experienced runners are doing it wrong. And I’m not trying to be negative here, but there’s so little information out there about proper stretching that it’s not surprising that people get it wrong.

So there’s two types of stretching you should be doing. It’s not difficult, doesn’t take a lot of time, it’s maybe three minutes before your run and three minutes after and it’s going to change everything.

So the first type is dynamic stretching. And you’re going to do a dynamic stretching routine after you’re walking warm up but before you start your first running interval. So you’re going to do that five minute walking warm up, quick dynamic stretching routine, and then you’re going to hit go and start your first running interval.

Now, dynamic stretches are moving stretches. So you’re not holding your body in one position, but rather moving the whole time, okay? And sometimes we refer to this routine as a dynamic warm up because it really doesn’t look a lot like stretching. And they’re things like leg swings, butt kicks, calf raises, torso twists, things that get the running muscles activated and ready to run.

And again, you can Google it. Google dynamic stretching warm up for runners, you’re going to come up with lots of options on YouTube. And again, of course, I teach a simple and short routine in Up And Running.

Now, after you’ve done your run it is time for static stretching. And this is what most people think of when they imagine stretching, right? It’s like holding a specific position for 20 seconds or so. And then once you’ve done your cool down walk, all right, this is where you’re going to fit in your static stretching.

So you finish your run, you know, three to five minutes of walking to cool down, and then you’re going to hit up your quads, hamstrings, calves, and glutes. And once again, if you’re unsure what will stretch each of these areas, you can Google it, right? Just Google static stretches for runners, or I have a short and simple video routine in Up And Running.

Now, the reason stretching is so important is it helps keep your muscles limber and flexible because honestly, like super tight muscles are going to throw off your running gait and cause pain and discomfort when you’re running. So loosening things up with a dynamic routine first and then taking time to cool down and then stretch them out after you’re done is going to make a difference overall.

The dynamic routine is going to make a difference immediately in your run. Most people that insert that routine after their warm up walk but before their first running interval notice that they are able to get up to a more comfortable running pace quicker, right?

A lot of us, one of the sayings amongst runners is the first mile always feels like ass, and I’ve noticed that people who do a dynamic stretching routine before their run don’t necessarily, you know, maybe it’s the first half a mile that feels difficult instead of the first mile. So it really, really does help with your warm up. And then the static stretching afterwards helps with any like post run soreness.

All right, the final thing we’re going to talk about is planning because even if your mental game is on point and you’ve been doing all of your physical self-care, if you’re not prepared for how you’re going to get everything done, how you’re going to deal with the inevitable obstacles that come up, well, what’s the old saying? If you fail to plan, you plan to fail, right?

So planning is an important self-care because you’re going to think through everything you want to accomplish and then make an actual plan for it. So what are you going to do if there’s thunder and lightning on your run day? Or it’s 100 degrees? Or you get to the gym and you realize you forgot your running shoes, right?

So think ahead to all the possible things that could get in your way and set up systems to handle it. For example, you’re going to keep an extra set of running clothes and shoes in your trunk. Check the weather forecast a week in advance in case you need to make some adjustments to your training plan. Have an accountability buddy that’s going to text you at six or 7am to make sure you’re actually doing your run or your strength training.

And another way to do this is to look back over past commitments that you’ve made to yourself that you didn’t follow through on and ask yourself why and what you could have done differently. Then apply those learnings to your current routine. And also make sure you check out episode 258 of this podcast, where I talk in a lot of detail about how to actually create a system of accountability for yourself.

All right, that is self-care for runners in a nutshell, my friends. Get your mental game on point, focus on sleep, strength training, and stretching, and then create a plan to deal with any obstacles that come up. It really is that simple. And even simpler is just go ahead and join Up And Running, it’s going to help you with everything we talked about in today’s episode so that you can be super successful as a runner.

Okay, my friends, I hope today was helpful for you. And, of course, if you loved it, please share this episode on Instagram and tell everybody about this podcast. And as always, I love you, stay safe, and get your ass out there and run.

Hey, real quick before you go, if you enjoyed listening to this episode you have got to check out Up And Running. It’s my 30 day online program that will teach you exactly how to start running, stick with it, and become the runner you have always wanted to be. Head on over to notyouraveragerunner.com/upandrunning to join. I would love to be a part of your journey.