Train for the runner you want to be, not the injury you fear

We explore how to start running well, recover from injury without fear, and build habits that last. Coach Charissa shares mindset shifts, practical tools, and small nutrition changes that stack into long-term progress.

• reframing injury from avoidance to performance focus
• building confidence during setbacks and embracing rest
• when to see a physio vs a massage therapist
• gait analysis, shoe fit, and bodyweight strength basics
• beginner structure with Couch to 5K and consistency
• fuelling well, watching liquid calories, and 80/20 whole food rule
• forming habits by week six with non‑negotiables
• sustainable training split and recovery as strategy
• swapping dopamine from food to movement
• seasonal and local eating for energy and health
• aiming for longevity and reverse‑engineering today’s choices

Find Charissa on Instagram: @charissahalonen. “If you send me a DM, I’m the person that you’re talking to.”

 Brian's Run Pod has become interactive with the audience. If you look at the top of the Episode description tap on "Send us a Text Message".  You can tell me what you think of the episode or alternatively what you would like covered.  If your lucky I might even read them out on the podcast.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome Back + Part One Reminder
• 0:55 Injury Mindset Shift
• 3:36 Confidence, Pain, and Temporariness
• 6:16 Rest, Rehab, and Race Realities
• 9:30 Recovery Over PRs
• 12:40 Physio vs Massage: Getting Assessed
• 15:23 Know Your Body: Micro Changes
• 18:41 Beginner Plans and Consistency
• 22:38 Fuel, Recovery, and Longevity
• 26:50 Habit Formation and Non‑Negotiables

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

So you're thinking about running, but not sure how to take the first step? My name is Brian Patterson, and I'm here to help. Welcome to Brian's ROM pod. This week we're diving into part two of my awesome conversation with Coach Teresa Hallian. And first of all, I just want to say that she's my second guest from Canada, and I'm super grateful she agreed to come on the show. We did run into a few technical hiccups, but I'm hoping we've ironed those out in editing. I kicked off by part two by asking her about what advice she gives her clients when they've been injured. I really do hope you enjoy our chat. And again, if you could go back in our catalogue and listen to part one, that would be great. Someone comes to you with an injury. So what's your strategy there in terms of consultation and advice?

SPEAKER_00: 1:21

So the advice will be 100% based off the injury. Yeah. I have massage background. So I can do a proper assessment with them verbally and then give them remedial exercise advice based off of their unique injury and their body. Also, always give them guidance that if you're training to avoid injury, and that's the language you're using, it needs to be shifted. Because if you are always trying to avoid injury, you're actually energetically focusing on injury. So you're more likely to injure yourself versus how do I perform at my best? How do I improve the areas that I feel like I need strength in? And, you know, how can I overall improve this running? Right. So giving them that mindset shift also helps possibly prevent future injuries because it's not doing training to prevent injury. It's training to be your best and creating that adaptability. So by being at your best, injury is less likely because you're emphasizing recovery. You're emphasizing where where do I have weaknesses that I need to strengthen? And just really giving that shift so that as they go forward, if an injury does happen, you navigate it. But it's not focused on how do I prevent an injury? Because it really does draw that into you're always focused on.

SPEAKER_01: 2:49

And also I think with injury, you're coming from a very different mindset to let's say to someone who is a looking to lose weight or looking to get fitter or looking to achieve a particular time. I think it is very much you're you're coming at a, I don't know, if you want to sort of visualize it as a different box, as it were. Because I know for me, um, and it may be some of the case for other people, your confidence is is quite low because you're thinking, I was able to do this, but now I can't even keep up with my um with my kids, or I can't go walking without feeling I'm I'm hand, you know, I I just you know, it hurts, or I'm sore and I wake up sore, or that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00: 3:36

Yeah. It's remembering that it's temporary as well. Like injuries don't last forever. When I was training for my marathon in Edinburgh, I had gone to London for a night out to go watch a burlesque show.

unknown: 3:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 3:48

And walking around in heels on the cobblestone, I actually dislocated one of my navicular bones in my ankle. Oh, right. So I wasn't allowed to train at all for three weeks. Like my my physio was like, if you want to run your race at all, yeah, you are not allowed to do anything. You're allowed to walk. He's like, but I would take the bus more than walking. He's like, but you're not allowed to run. You're not allowed to weight train. Yeah. You're not allowed to do mobility exercises. You actually just have to rest this and ice if you want any hope of running. And so sometimes that's the hardest part is embracing the injury and then reminding yourself this is temporary. There is a solution if I follow the guidance and then go from there more mindfully, because I still had to be very careful. I still injured myself during the race. I rubbed my meniscus in my knee. But it's, you know, those things still will happen. It's just how do you navigate it mentally? Right. If it's going to be the thing that takes you out because it hurts to move, then maybe running isn't going to be the thing that you can do because your mind is allowing itself to take over and be negative versus yes, this is a part of the journey of being an athlete at any level, is that there's going to be things that come up that we didn't want to happen. But how do you navigate that? Is that going to be the end of your running career? Or is this going to be like, oh yes, this is a challenge. What can I learn from it? Maybe we're not recovering as well as we should have been. Yeah. Lots of times we're like, oh yeah, I had a little bit of a rest, but there isn't as much recovery focus. It's more like get that time faster, you know, get a longer stride, whatever that focus is to get that outcome. Yeah. That needs to be supported by what you do in your off time too.

SPEAKER_01: 5:40

And it and it also, this kind of also cements what you said earlier on the podcast, that it it is, if not maybe 60% of the whole holistic health picture is your mindset and how you approach it. Because I know that even when you're overcoming the injury, um that is in itself is a journey and is quite an encouraging one because you're either taking on what a physio, or maybe you've gone to a massage therapist, and you can see the benefits. And that's just as much as of a high as let's say, you know, you're doing a great session. You know, in its um and do you feel that people should be with the injury? Do you feel that they should be looking at going to let's say you mean you were a mass you were a massage therapist, but they could go to someone who has a bit more medical training who is a physio. Um is it worth going to both or is one better than the other?

SPEAKER_00: 6:47

Well, it really depends on what the injury is and what the person's tolerance is. Sometimes people don't like getting massaged because they don't like being touched by somebody that's strange.

SPEAKER_02: 6:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 6:59

So if that's the case, then I would just say go see a physio, because they do have a little bit of massage training as well, but you don't have to be completely undressed for it.

SPEAKER_02: 7:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 7:09

And they have the mechanical knowledge and things like that as well. That's the biggest thing, though, is I recommend people don't let an injury be unseen. Go see somebody to get it assessed. And even if it's only a one or two times that you go, at least you'll have the knowledge of how do I navigate this without making it worse and turning it into something that might need a surgery now versus just a little bit of rest and ice. So get your injuries looked at so that you really have a good understanding of what's happening in your body.

SPEAKER_01: 7:43

Moving on to sort of practical advice for runners, I know it's very difficult to offer a very generic advice uh to someone without sort of taking on as to um, you know, what are their particular needs and what kind of distances. But are there any simple techniques and tools for runners that that you know they that you would uh tell them? Anything generic?

SPEAKER_00: 8:11

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01: 8:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 8:12

Yeah. Get to know your body. Know what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are so that you can learn how to develop them. Because it doesn't matter if you're a 5K runner, an ultra runner, a triathlon. It everything requires you to have a really good understanding of your body and how it functions and what rest it needs to be the ultimate athlete, whatever your field is or arena that you're going to be in. And if you're looking to make changes with your sport, make micro changes. Start with something small. Instead of trying to do everything all at once, look at either investing in getting your feet assessed for proper running shoes. That makes a very big difference. Getting a gait analysis done. So watching, getting somebody to watch you walk. So that's like, oh, I noticed your shoulder flares here. Maybe we need to look at your hips too. So that again, it ties back into that the more knowledge you have about your own body and yourself and how it feels when you're moving is going to drive you into the best athlete because you'll be able to, even if you don't know for yourself, you can talk to a coach, you can talk to a personal trainer, you can talk to a physiotherapist. There's a lot of people that you can talk to that can give you things to strengthen those weaknesses or help you improve based off watching you and what your movements are, so that you can be the best version of you in your sport.

SPEAKER_01: 9:44

And in terms of the training, um, how let's say coming from kind of quite a low level, what's the best way to approach that and to sort of as you know as as pain-free as it were as possible?

SPEAKER_00: 10:01

So if you're talking about somebody who's just new into running, just getting the basics, you can do full body body weight exercises at home. YouTube has a lot of free resources of just doing some things to overall strengthen your body and then just start off with small distance runs, right? Go for a small time. There's a really good app that it's couched to 5K.

SPEAKER_02: 10:24

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 10:26

And and it helps with that training program. Because if you're new to running and you have that passion, it's nice to be able to have a a program or a platform to follow so that you don't have to guess. It's like, okay, my ability is absolutely zero and I want to run a marathon. How do I do that in six months? Right. Because again, I did I did that from pretty much no running ability to choosing to do a full marathon. That was the smartest thing I could do was get that training program from them. Yeah. And I treated that like it was the law. So if it told me I was doing a mile run today, I went for a mile run. I didn't care how long the mile run took me.

unknown: 11:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 11:07

I was kind with myself on there because I'm like, okay, I just have to do the run. I can improve the time as I go. I just have to get in my shoes, out the door, and go for that run.

SPEAKER_01: 11:18

Is there anything that runners get get wrong? I mean, in your in your opinion? What is it that, you know, they've they they're coming new to the sport, or like some people they may have done it at high school or at college, and this is like 20 years on. What what sort of things do you think they might get wrong? Or the the the kind of the obstacles that might get in the way?

SPEAKER_00: 11:41

Um, a lot of times it's not fueling yourself well, especially for the run, but it's outside of that run too. Like what are you eating during the week and then you're gonna go for a run? And just being really honest with yourself about what is my level of intention with my running. Because if you're gonna go out for, you know, chips and cheese and all of that on the weekends, but then you're gonna eat really good during the week, you're not being consistent in the fuel that your body has to be able to perform well. So underfueling or thinking, oh, I run at a high level, I can eat whatever I want, it has the same impact as well. Because your fuel that you're putting in your body isn't the most optimal for what you're looking towards. And also thinking that they don't really have to do the recovery part of it.

SPEAKER_02: 12:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 12:30

Right. The stretching, the mobility, the hydration, sleep, all of those things are important to be able to lengthen your career as a runner. Even if you're just doing it for pleasure and health benefits, how long do you want to do it for? Do you want to do it until you're 90? And if so, you look at okay, at 90, I'm gonna still be running 10 miles. And then you go back from there, what do I need to do today to be able to ensure to the best of my ability that I can run at 90? Because our choices today show up six months later. So that result is there later. If you want that outcome, we need to think longer and be more intentional with the small things that we do every day. Because it maybe doesn't matter today, but in six months, if I choose to have chips on my run, it's gonna make a big difference to how my my running is going because that habit pays off later. It's not gonna show up today, maybe.

SPEAKER_01: 13:31

What in your experience does it, you know, how long does it take for someone, an individual, to get into a particular habit? So I mean, I've always heard it's kind of like, I don't know, six weeks or uh all that kind of thing, you know. So is it kind of really baked into the the routine of their life? I mean, I know everything else like family and work um can get in the way. But is there sort of a time period where you they've kind of their new regime has sort of incorporated it into into their life?

SPEAKER_00: 14:10

Yeah. What I've seen with people is it usually takes about six weeks where they're intentional and it's really repeating the same thing every day, even on the days that you don't want to.

SPEAKER_02: 14:22

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 14:22

Still repeat it. Because those are the days that matter the most. And family and everything else getting the way means that you haven't prioritized it. Right. Because it's not like you just all of a sudden had a family. You had a family when you started building the habit of going to run. So it's like, how do I make this work and sustainable? Right. So it's building those those non-negotiable patterns. But it I've seen people in our we usually have a three-month container minimum, and it's by week six they've gotten into that groove. They're hitting their habits without any difficulty. They've figured out a way to get their schedule to work around it so that nothing feels like it's being left out, and they're able to make continuous progress.

SPEAKER_01: 15:09

Is that the same for nutrition as well? Not just as well. And and nutrition, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 15:14

Yeah. Because it like anybody can eat well for a week or two.

SPEAKER_01: 15:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 15:19

And it's after that that they're just like, oh, still this, and then the benefits start to come after a month, and then after six weeks, you really feel the difference because you've invested enough time into it that your body is like, hey, this is how I function, just eating whole foods and being well hydrated.

unknown: 15:38

Right.

SPEAKER_01: 15:38

So I mean, on the just moving back onto the nutrition side, do you think that's again it's those small changes that uh will help them sort of change then change their particular habits? So maybe instead of having, you know, I you know, um for instance, I used to have a sandwich and chicken for my lunch. Um, and then I'd maybe feel a little bit bloated, and now I've kind of changed for having like salad and chicken and then maybe some fruit. But it's just those that small, you know, as an example, I mean maybe other people of the same sort of thing, or even, you know, having and something that's more manageable rather than making a full-blown, you know, meal plan for the six weeks, as it were.

SPEAKER_00: 16:31

Yeah. Well, it's when you try to make a really, really big change, it pretty much guarantees that you're gonna fail. You really want to make those small changes. And you know, you noticing that you were bloated after a meal and then changing to have a salad instead, that was a big shift, right? So it creates more momentum positively from that one small thing. You didn't just cut everything out and then started from scratch. You made one change and you saw how it felt. And that's essentially what it is by being in tune with your body and noticing how you feel with what you put into it, yeah. Then you can make really true changes for yourself that aren't this big grand thing, but they have a grand result.

SPEAKER_01: 17:18

I mean, I noticed, I mean, I know we talked about it earlier when you said you were sort of like 60 pounds overweight, and then I think the pictures from when you were, the what you were looked like then and now, sort of thing, and it's totally different. What was your what was your mental focus then? Was it right, I'm gonna do five times a week weight training, cardiovascular, get, you know, eat, or what kind of advice would you give to our audience, you know, going on from what you, your journey was like at that time?

SPEAKER_00: 17:52

So when I was the 60 pounds overweight, is that what you were asking? Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_01: 17:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 17:58

Yeah. So when I was the 60 pounds overweight, I didn't know where to start because I just was I was really disgusted with myself and I didn't know how to navigate that because I had been emotionally eating and not facing my feelings in life.

SPEAKER_01: 18:14

Right. Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 18:15

So when I got into my career as a massage therapist, I stopped worrying about what the scale was saying. And I was more focused on being a really good therapist, showing up really well professionally and just loving what I was doing. So that had shifted me. I ended up by losing 15 pounds without even realizing.

SPEAKER_01: 18:35

Oh, yes. I remember yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00: 18:37

Yeah. Yeah. I wasn't focused on that. So when I realized that there was an emotional component to it, I wasn't getting mad at myself anymore for the outcome on the scale. I was just showing up and doing the things I loved in my life. So then when I got to the point where I'm weight training now, I've had to shift from doing the five to six times a week because that was creating too much detriment. Right. I now am much more intentional. I will train four days a week, two days on, one day off, two days on, two days off.

unknown: 19:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 19:09

And I'm really focused on just developing the muscle from there and eating well to fuel it. Because when I was 60 pounds overweight, I wasn't really thinking about what I was eating. I was eating healthy foods, but I didn't have a good mind when I was eating. And I would sit there and I'd eat a pint of ice cream every night because I wanted to feel better. Now I understand that I don't need dopamine from my food. If I'm feeling off, I'll do some push-ups or some burpees to feel better. And then I'll have my food so that I'm not coordinating food and dopamine together.

SPEAKER_02: 19:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 19:46

Right. And I I'm better fueled. I have a lot more attention behind how I eat and what I'm eating so that I don't feel the need to eat all the crap. I'm have eat at regular intervals throughout the day. I have a good protein portion at every meal. And I have better sources of carbs that I'm choosing for my body. So I don't get the up and down blood sugar things that a lot of people do. And that's part of why they have weight troubles, is because they don't realize what the food they're eating actually does in their body.

SPEAKER_01: 20:19

I suppose it's, you know, I suppose it's a good idea to sort of, I mean, that's probably there's lots of resources online, you know, on YouTube or or wherever, um, or um that can give you some advice as to foods and what certain foods are doing to you. So I mean, is there anything there that you'd recommend or anything any anything in particular that you'd recommend to for people to have a look at?

SPEAKER_00: 20:44

I always look at how much, what percentage of your food is processed versus what percentage is is whole foods. And if you can do it so it's 80% whole food and 20% processed, you'll make a shift in your body because a lot of people, it seems to be 80% processed and maybe 20% whole food.

SPEAKER_01: 21:06

Okay, okay. So that's good rule of thumb. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 21:09

Yeah. And like just shifting, like close to the ground as possible, whole food, least amount of processing. And, you know, when you can make your own food.

SPEAKER_01: 21:19

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 21:20

So that's what you know yeah, you know what's in it and you can control, okay. Well, maybe I react to olive oil, but I do well with butter. So that you can have have that control over what you're eating, but just the shift of what percentage are you eating that's processed, what percentage are you eating that's whole, and how many of your calories are coming from your drinks? That's a big thing that people don't necessarily notice. The beverages that you they sometimes it's liquid calories, right? If you're having a lot of um soda pops or coffees that have a lot of sugar and things like that in it, how many calories are you drinking in a day compared to what what you're eating? Because a lot of times we don't equate this drink having a fair amount of calories to it.

SPEAKER_01: 22:08

And obviously alcohol along with it.

SPEAKER_00: 22:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_01: 22:11

And if you can grow your own food, all the better.

SPEAKER_00: 22:14

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01: 22:16

Yes, we have uh uh my wife has an allotment. So um we we grow uh our own food, potatoes, tomatoes, and and the f so and also it means you get used to, I think, I know it's not everyone has that luxury, but also you educate you into the seasons of food. Yes. So, you know, you know that you know you can have tomatoes in the summer, but maybe it's not such a great idea to have it within the winter because hey, you know, there's the eco part of it, and then also they may not be as tasty as well.

SPEAKER_00: 22:52

So Yeah. Well, and if you if you don't have your own allotment, there's local markets. Of course, yes. Local markets will have seasonal fruits, vegetables, the things, so you'll be able to eat seasonally as well for your area, which also plays a part into it too.

SPEAKER_01: 23:11

Um we're coming to the end of the podcast, and I'll just like to say you've been a wonderful guest, even though I know we've had a few technical issues, and I do apologize for that. But anyway, I'm sure I'll manage to stick this together. But I just wanted to ask a um uh a couple of, let's say, sort of uh quickfire questions. Do you have a particular sporting icon? Or it could be a anyone, and a particular icon, someone who you feel that you kind of look up to or you thought, well, you know, he is an insp he or she is an inspiration.

SPEAKER_00: 23:45

You know what? I am not a typical North American that way. I don't necessarily have that. What I've what I've gravitated towards lately is there's an I think she's 88 years old now. Yeah. And she is the oldest bodybuilder in the United States.

SPEAKER_02: 24:03

Wow.

SPEAKER_00: 24:04

And I look to her and I'm just like, that is impressive. That is what I am working towards is defining a different way of aging.

SPEAKER_02: 24:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 24:12

That I can be that 88-year-old still powerlifting and all of those things because I'm healthy, I have the mobility and things like that. So not necessarily a sports icon, but I do have that lovely 88-year-old woman that I admired that she has shown a different way to age and that she's embraced weightlifting to that age.

SPEAKER_01: 24:35

Brilliant. Excellent. And is there any particular one piece of advice that you would give to, let's say, people who are looking to start on this running journey? I know we've had a lot of information today, but is there anything in particular one thing, one takeaway to uh to get to give our audience?

SPEAKER_00: 24:54

I would say just start. If you're thinking about it, just take that action to start. You don't have to have it all figured out, but taking that step now will ensure that you're making that investment into a healthier future. And it's also honoring the fact that you want to do that running and get that in your life. So don't delay on yourself.

SPEAKER_01: 25:16

And how can we either where can we see you or get hold of you if ever we need to get some more advice or getting any training programs? Um, where are you online?

SPEAKER_00: 25:29

So I'm most active on Instagram.

SPEAKER_01: 25:31

Right. Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 25:32

At cur Carissa Halanan on Instagram. If you send me a DM, I'm the person that you're talking to.

SPEAKER_02: 25:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 25:39

And I welcome any questions, any inquiries about anything. I'm always there to help. My goal is to give value, even if you don't pay for a program, that you can come to the page and find something useful for yourself.

SPEAKER_01: 25:53

I think I'd like to take this up, too, to thank you very much. Um, there's been a ton of information that you've given us. At least you've hopefully you've put us um on the right direction. And uh, as I said, I do apologize for some of the technical issues we've had, but I'm sure we'll get something out. Thank you very much for coming on the podcast. But uh, I'd like to say goodbye from Char is it Charissa?

SPEAKER_00: 26:14

Carissa.

SPEAKER_01: 26:15

Carissa, Carissa. And goodbye from me and see you next week. Bye bye.