Spring Clean Your Running: 5 Tips to Refresh

After slogging through the long, cold months of winter, there’s this collective itch we all start to feel – an itch for change, for warmth, and for shedding the old to make way for the new. And what better time to "spring clean" our running routines than now?

It’s not just about getting back out there in shorts and soaking up the sun (though let’s be honest, that’s a pretty fantastic part of it). It’s about taking a moment to pause, reflect, and redirect our energies where they’re most needed. Whether you’re gearing up for the spring race season or simply looking to inject some new life into your runs, now is the perfect time to reset and refocus.

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Transcript

Spring Cleaning Your Running Goals

Speaker 1 0:43

All right, welcome back everybody to another episode of the Do Our Things podcast. I'm Jay Teagues, your running coach, certified high performance coach, mindset coach, founder of the Do Our Things Nation, where our mission is to empower you to upgrade your life through mindset and movement, and today we're going to be talking about spring cleaning your running. So you just got me today and I'm excited to be here. I just fresh off of spring break. If you were around last week, you noticed that we did a replay and the family and I had the privilege of having two spring breaks back to back. I got to take my kiddos to Virginia and I met Lacey and her kids down in Florida. So I feel refreshed and rejuvenated and life is good, and it really had me thinking about the topic of just like spring cleaning and spring cleaning comes in a variety of different ways. I'm going to share with you five strategies to help you re-energize, refocus your mindset and help you move even better so you can crush your goals for this spring. But before we get into today's episode, just a couple of housekeeping notes. Make sure you smash that subscribe button so you're notified of future episodes. Run all your major platforms Spotify, Apple, Pocket Cast, YouTube and leave us a review on iTunes. They go a really long way to helping us expand the Do Our Things Nation. They matter. So, whatever your favorite platform is, take a couple minutes and leave us a review, and we always love to hear from you as well. So if you take the time to do that, make sure that you share it with us directly, Shoot us a note, Let us know. Hey, I love this episode, or this is a great topic idea. We would love to hear from you and share it with a couple of your friends, because it would mean a lot. This episode is sponsored by the Do Hard Things Nation. We're a community committed to living a life on offense, and we're united by a focus on continuous self-improvement through upgrading our lives through mindset and movement. We offer monthly challenges. We have merch that inspires like stronger than yesterday's shirt awesome Do Hard Things Nation hat and so go grab yourself some, some, some gear that inspires you. It's a great place to connect with other like-minded people, hold yourself accountable, and so go to do hard things nationcom. Wwwdohardthingsnationcom. You can see our latest events. What we have going on there and so with today is April 1st April 1st of 2024.

Speaker 1 3:12

And I noticed when I came back the other day from spring breakdown in Florida. Just walking in the house, just you can hear the birds chirping and the sweet smell of spring, with all of the flora and the fauna, and you're seeing all the leaves and whatnot coming back. And so it's here. The weather's warming up and it's great, and so with spring comes a rejuvenating energy that it's just a time for renewal, as you see the leaves coming and the animals back and people out just walking their dogs. You're seeing more activity because it's warmer. It's just a time for spring renewal and rejuvenation, and your running routine and your mindset routine are no exception, and so I'm going to give you five strategies to help you spring clean your running and your training so you can rejuvenate and re-energize.

Speaker 1 4:12

So the first tip we're going to talk about is embracing a break. So spring break, spring break Like I just came back off of a break, it's good practice to take a little vacation with beautiful weather, Just get out there and just unplug from the day to day grind and give yourself the gift of taking a break, some downtime. Maybe it's traveling someplace new, Maybe it's just simply a staycation, but doing something where you can just break the monotony from winter and just we need these transition points and we need time to just take a break and unplug and when you're on these vacations or taking that time, just truly like unplug. When I was down in Florida, I mean, I've kind of been doing like a digital detox. I've really been working on subtraction versus addition and that means just unplugging more and just taking time for myself to be more present. Taking that little time can rejuvenate your, your mind and your body, and it just when it comes to um, embracing spring. It's just like knocking off the old cobwebs and just getting revitalized for the new season. So make sure you take a break, and that comes in a variety of different forms but take some time for yourself. A lot of times, man, people are not very good about taking their vacation time. They brag about how much vacation time that they've saved up and they pride themselves on not taking vacation. It's so incredibly important to be able to unplug and do that All right.

Speaker 1 5:50

Strategy number two set fresh goals. What do you want to achieve this season? What do you want to achieve? For many people, you might some people just take the winter off to completely hibernate, but now that it's warmer, you know people are out there moving, but now's a good time to uh, to identify what you want to achieve the season, start planning that out. So maybe it's a new distance, Maybe you want to add some speed. Uh, maybe you just want to, you know, just find more joy in, in, in the steps. Maybe you want more community, Maybe you want to connect with more like-minded people. Maybe you want to shake it up and maybe do like an obstacle course race or maybe a bike race. Maybe it's doing you.

Speaker 1 6:31

I think the humans need novelty. We need something new to do. So setting fresh goals can get you rejuvenated and excited and shake up your training, because there's a lot of people that just get bored with their training. It's because they're not shaking it up. So what specifically do you want to achieve this year? And so look at, maybe a different distance, maybe adding some speed work, maybe finding some new events to participate in, maybe finding some more community. Those are some ways to set some fresh goals and shake things up, and shaking things up just gets you more motivated. I know there's a lot of people that get kind of burned out. I saw someone on a blog yesterday saying they've fallen out of love with running and their training. Well, that's typically because you're doing the same old thing over and over and over again and you're getting bored. So we need new novelty, we need leading edge experiences that are new, and that's a great way to do that. So, all right.

Refreshing Spring Running Tips

Speaker 1 7:36

So number three, number three declutter and refresh. So, just like spring cleaning your home, it's a good time to maybe, you know, declutter, revamp your running wardrobe, and that might be. You know, you've been wearing all that winter gear and whatnot. Maybe it's time to freshen it up, put that stuff away because you don't need it for the summertime, and maybe spruce it up. So maybe you donate your running shoes and some of your gear or you just put it away for the season, and maybe it's time.

Speaker 1 8:08

This would be a great opportunity to get yourself some new running shoes or some new gear. You know, anytime I get any new gear to add to the kit. It's exciting, it's I don't know. It kind of motivates you Getting a new pair of running shorts and shirt, maybe a new vest, maybe some new ear pods, whatever it is. Whatever you need to motivate yourself. But declutter and refresh your gear and your wardrobe.

Speaker 1 8:35

And I know for me personally, I'm preparing for the Ozark Expedition which kicks off next week, and I've had to get some new gear for it. It's exciting to get some new headlamps and some other running gear. I don't know it, just it's motivational because you want to get out there and try it. I've gotten some kit in the mail and I'm like man, I just want to go out and try this new piece of equipment. So I found myself running at night and doing some other things I wouldn't typically have been doing in my training plan, but just because I was excited about the new gear, Also got doing in my training plan, but just because I was excited about the new gear, I also got some new trekking poles. That's been a new addition to my gear. Overall, I got some lucky trekking poles, typically used for longer distances and over tougher terrain.

Speaker 1 9:17

And I'll tell you what it's been pretty fun to do something new, to kind of shake it up. So declutter and refresh. That's strategy number three. All right. Strategy number four discover new paths. This kind of goes back into what I mentioned earlier about just bored being bored, and a lot of runners get bored because they're running the same pace, the same path, the same thing over and over and over again and it gets kind of boring after a while. So maybe this is a new opportunity to discover a new path. You can do that by just simply going to Strava and maybe trying to find some new Strava segments.

Speaker 1 9:55

I found Strava to be incredibly handy when it comes to new paths because it's an opportunity to see where other people are running. There's some hidden gems in your neighborhood and maybe the neighborhood next to you. Maybe go to the next town over and explore what's going on over there. But running some new routes will shake some things up. Seeing something new and fresh surroundings can be incredibly motivational. Surroundings can be incredibly motivational.

Speaker 1 10:28

So, um, and also, as you, if you find yourself traveling, maybe find some opportunities to travel, find some new paths. I know, uh, you know, being just on spring break, uh, finding some. I found some fantastic paths out, exploring uh, the uh, Richmond, Virginia, which is, uh, I don't know if you've ever been to Richmond, but it's incredibly beautiful. A lot of civil war history there. Uh, the city is, it's, it is. I don't know if you've ever been to Richmond, but it's incredibly beautiful. A lot of Civil War history there. The city is, it's not too terribly big and it's got this beautiful river that flows through there, the James River, and just finding myself just exploring new paths. I opened up some Strava segments and just kind of found some places to run and it was absolutely beautiful. I had an opportunity to go down to Florida and run on the beach and just check out some scenery and stop for some amazing coffee on a morning run. It was fantastic. So it's always rejuvenating and exciting to run some new paths. So shake it up a little bit. Find some new routes to go run and train on. All right.

Speaker 1 11:23

Then step number five evaluate your gear. This kind of might go hand in hand with decluttering and refreshing, but might take some time to. This is this is a common thing Runners want. They tend to run, they overrun on their running shoes. I am guilty of this myself because I can be frugal sometimes, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and uh, you know. But uh, uh, it's a good time to maybe check out your running shoes. Um, typically running shoes 300 to 500 miles, which isn't very much, that's ideal. That'll help keep you from uh, from mitigating uh for uh, mitigating some running injury. So evaluate your gear and uh, you know you're, running shoes are the most critical kit in your arsenal to uh, to keep yourself from getting hurt and uh, you know, good time, check out, check out the tread on your shoes.

Speaker 1 12:16

You know whether or not you need a new pair of shoes or not. So go spoil yourself. I tell you what it's. Um, I've noticed a significant increase in the cost of running shoes, which I know can be kind of painful a little bit, but getting a new pair of shoes is critical. So don't scrimp on that, because running or having a running injury is not a good thing and it's easy to do that. So make sure that you're giving yourself the support and the cushioning that you need that. So make sure that you're giving yourself the support and the cushioning that you need.

Speaker 1 12:53

And I recommend you know, when you buy some shoes, adding a couple different pair, especially as I've done more longer distance have a couple different pair in your kit and I've got right now I've been on a Hoka kit and Hoka kick. I've got some Hoka speed goats for trail. I got my Hoka Clifton's for for running the road and I still got my new balance and a couple of the pair of shoes and they're just kind of mixed up a pair of ultras. And, yeah, Lacey's got her car, who's, but which I make fun of her, cause I've never ran in a car who's? What are they? What are they from? What are they from? She's sitting here right here next to me. Are they Swedish? From Sweden? Yeah, it's your car.

Speaker 1 13:37

So, anyway, I've also noticed you can get more life out of your running shoes when you have more in your arsenal to rotate from. So they last a bit longer because you're spreading the mileage over a bunch of them, but a good way to, yeah, just kind of extend the life on of them. So, but a good way to, yeah, just kind of extend the life on your shoes. So, evaluate your gear. I know also I'm looking at, I know there's water bottles, new vest, just a couple of pieces of kit that I need to added some lights to my gear. But, anyway, evaluate your gear, make sure that, check shoes out, make sure you get new pair of running shoes, All right, so, um, so, yeah, five tips brace the break, set new and exciting fresh goals, declutter and refresh, discover new paths and evaluate your gear.

Speaker 1 14:21

So spring isn't just a season, it's a feeling. So I just want you to notice the feeling that you're feeling. I know it's living in the Midwest where it can be kind of gloomy and the weather can be kind of cold. It just feels refreshing, there's. It just feels, I don't know. I always feel re-energized and revitalized and I like finding new runs for the uh, uh, for the springtime, and it's also a time, a season of growth and a season into stepping into a renewed sense of purpose and joy in your life. And you know, here on the Do Harder Things podcast, we're all about embracing those opportunities to grow and push through the hard things, and spring is a season of growth. So just embrace growth and I'm looking forward to running in some warmer weather and just new opportunities. In general, Life is good. Life is good, All right. So I'm running a little fast this morning. So I'm going to go ahead and get into this week's spotlights what I have here for you all.

Speaker 1 15:20

All right, ladies and gentlemen, this is Ashley Combs and her coach, Rebecca Kirchner, and she just recently finished her first 5K. Ashley is from Waynesville, Missouri, and she is part of the fun group, FUN at the ARC in Waynesville, and Ashley has some special needs and is just overcoming a lot of health challenges that she's had with the great and amazing support of her coach and her team that are fun she was able to finish her first color run. And so, Ashley, for overcoming some significant challenges and crushing your first 5k, we're going to send you a Do Hard Things shirt on behalf of the Do Hard Things Nation and, Rebecca, we're also going to send you one for being such an inspiration, being a coach and a lighthouse. To Ashley, we're going to send you one as well, and that's what Do Hard Things Nation is all about. It's about overcoming challenges, embracing hardship and being a leader and shining your light to encourage other people to overcome and upgrade their life through mindset and movement. So congratulations on your color run and hopefully that you've got some more 5Ks in the future, maybe even a longer distance out there. So we appreciate you and Rebecca. Thank you so much for your support. Rebecca is always pouring into the community. I've known Rebecca for a few years now and she's just so incredibly selfless. So, Ashley, Rebecca, we appreciate you both.

Speaker 1 16:57

All right, so that's it for today. Short and sweet podcast, but just embrace spring. I know today here in mid-Missouri we've got some spring storms. I hope I know you know, um, today here in mid Missouri. We've got some spring storms are coming, so, um, be careful out there as well with, uh, with the spring season. We're just quick to have some tornadoes today. So, uh, I love spring. Um, you gotta be careful with the storms. Anyway, that's all we got for today. Uh, we appreciate y'all. In the meantime, keep doing hard things. We'll see you guys in the next episode.