Episode 33: What Actually Matters in Trail Running: 3 Things I Care About More Than Pace

What actually matters in training?
Honestly…not your pace.

In this episode, I’m talking about the three things I care about more than pace when it comes to trail running and coaching: consistency over perfection, effort over pace, and joy over comparison.

I get into what consistency really means when life doesn’t go to plan, why so many runners go too hard on easy days, and how comparison can quietly chip away at something you used to enjoy. I also talk about why honest feedback matters so much, whether that’s with a coach or just with yourself, and how these three things shape the way I coach athletes.

This episode is for the runner who’s been too hard on herself for missing a run, questioning whether easy effort is “enough,” or feeling thrown off by what everyone else seems to be doing.

In this episode, I talk about:

• Why consistency matters more than a perfect week
• What consistency really looks like with running, strength training, and honest feedback
• Why easy effort needs to actually be easy
• How going too hard too often can leave you tired, plateaued, and frustrated
• The role of effort in both training and real life
• Why joy matters more than comparison
• How to check in with yourself when training starts to feel heavy

Questions to ask yourself after this episode:

• Am I being consistent?
• Am I putting the right effort in the right places?
• Am I still finding joy in this?

If this episode hit home, share it with a friend, send it to your group chat, and leave a rating or review so more everyday trail runners can find the show.

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If this episode resonated, share it with a friend. Make sure you’re following or subscribed so you don’t miss future episodes. Ratings and reviews help more than you know.

• See episodes 4, 16, 19, 25 and 31 to dive into effort and data.
• Follow me on Instagram
• Visit my website: www.sunrisetrailscoaching.com
• Want to work together? Learn about 1:1 Coaching
• Free guide: What’s In My Pack? Download here

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey y'all, welcome back to DirtNab Diaries. I'm your host, Brittany Olsen, Trailrunner, Women's Trailrunning Coach, Hypown, and Professional Overpacker of the Midrun Snacks. This show is for the everyday trailrunner, the ones training on real life legs and real life time. You've got work, relationships, laundry, pets, a group text that never shuts up, and maybe a big goal sitting quietly in the back of your head that you're not totally sure you're allowed to want. You're not out here chasing podium spots. You're chasing finish lines, sunrises, and maybe a little sanity. This podcast is about trail running, but it's also about navigating life. The hard seasons, the joyful ones, and the ones where everything feels like too much. So let's get into it. Alright, y'all. Uh I'd love to have some amazing personal life update, but really I'm just uh running and lifting and working and coaching and just doing all the things. So not nothing bad. Uh lots of good. Uh feeling super strong. Saw my uh physical therapist, uh, Meg Slavin yesterday. Uh, if you need an appointment, make one with her. She's amazing. But just to make sure everything's looking good, everything's getting stronger. I had a couple little things that were just bothered me. Wanted to make sure to stay on top of as my volume shoots up. Um, this weekend is a big weekend for me. It could be my biggest weekend for the race, which a little early, but sometimes that has that's how it goes when you're doing like point-to-points and you're doing a group run with people. So really, really big weekend though. Uh running Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, all long runs. So I will report back on how that goes because that will be a pretty tiring weekend, but uh excited to do it and super grateful I actually live here where I can get on course. Um because some people just can't. And we are getting into all you in Arizona listening, you know, or in Phoenix listening, you know this. We're gonna hit a hundred. I don't know, I think mine says 102 or 103 this week, which is crazy for March. So it's gonna be a real warm uh weekend, but also we're gonna have a warm Coca-Dona. So uh we're getting we're getting prepped for that. It's gonna be tough. Uh, but that is what it's like when you live here. You never know. But it is a cold front in many other places in the U.S., and all of a sudden here it's just hot. So it's not a personal life update, that's just a weather update. So uh if you are in these hot climates, um, I feel ya. Just letting you know. So outside of that though, want to jump into this one. Uh really excited for this because I've been thinking about like a lot of people when I sign them, they ask about uh like increasing their pace and getting faster and all of that. And I'm totally on board with like people wanting to get faster. Um people who have never trained with a coach or have maybe spent a lot of time doing a lot of easy runs or not really knowing where to put harder workouts in. Like there are definitely ways to uh get quicker. But uh once like I talk to an athlete and I sign an athlete, uh we talk a lot more about effort over pace, consistency over perfection. Um, and then I don't normally put it in this words, but as I was thinking of the words to use, um, really like joy over comparison. Mainly joy is what I like to think about, but like also like it is we've talked about this before, like how comparison can like hurt us um in our running journey. So those are the three things that I'm talking about that I care about more than pace. Um, because for me, it's not always about like being the fastest out there, it's really about like showing up every day because everyday athletes, most of us out here are not elite runners. We are not in that upper 1%, and we're out here running, hopefully because we love it, not because we're punishing our bodies. But I want us to focus on these three things because it does matter. So, again, if you've worked me with me before, if you've been listening here for a bit, some of this probably won't shock you at all. Um maybe it's gonna hit you in a way that hasn't hit you before, maybe it's gonna get you to some clarity on how I actually coach. So the first thing we're gonna start with is uh the consistency over perfection. Um, a lot of us tend to be perfectionist. Uh maybe it's from childhood stuff, maybe I mean typically it's from childhood stuff, but a lot of us, you know, if we if we miss a run, if we miss um anything, I mean it could be something at work, uh, maybe we get some feedback we don't like because we didn't do something perfectly, like it does get in our heads a little bit. So this is very important. And I don't just mean it with running, I mean it with training. Uh so like any training, strength training, um, but showing up even what's not ideal, uh being honest with how things are actually going. Um, you know, like how I coach is I do ask for feedback from all my athletes. Um, some of it's like about how they're feeling, some of it's like how they're eating and drinking, but like I need that honesty because without that honesty, it is very hard um to progress. But can being consistent with that feedback, being consistent with that honesty, even if you don't have a coach, guys, you just need to be honest with yourself. Um, it's what's gonna help you a whole bunch when it comes to trail running. Um, but when people think uh people think progress really comes from like that perfect week or that perfectly executed long run or that perfectly executed hard workout or that perfectly executed month. And that's not the case. I'm not saying if you like hit every single run that you had planned to hit and you hit it in the right effort level, you know, and you didn't get sick that month, so you were able to do all the things, or that week, or like you nailed that run. I'm not saying that doesn't help, but just because you didn't perfectly execute on every single thing, it doesn't mean that you're not gonna have progress. You're not gonna be able to hit your goals in your race. Like the point is, is to be consistent, to show up when you can, um, to show up at your best every time. And your best can change from day to day. Um, and and do the work you can. Um so, and I think some people when they hear consistency, they're like, what exactly does that mean? It's not that we don't know the definition, it's not like we've never heard that word, but they're like, well, like, I feel like consistency means like I need to show up every time to every single run in the exact same way, and that's just not that's not human. So again, it is showing up as you can, as yourself, pushing as you can when you can. Like, it's not necessarily doing the exact same thing at the exact same, we'll say, pace or effort or execution, all of that. Um, because it's gonna change, because we're not perfect, right? So progress comes from stacking those imperfect weeks over and over and over again. Like that's consistency to me when it comes to really anything, not just trail running, but all the things. Uh, like I said, whether it be work, whether it be you could be learning how to cook something, you could be going to school, um, you could be taking on a new job, whatever that is, it could just it could just be a new hobby. But like it is, it comes from stacking those weeks over and over again. Um, and that's where progress does come from, and that is what consistency is. So it could be the run that you almost skipped but didn't, because there wasn't really a reason to miss that run, right? So we all wake up tired sometimes. I do quite often. Um, but it's showing up uh when you can, and again, when you can't, part of that consistency is like, you know what? I'm sick and I need to take the day off, or I need to take a couple days off. And that's part of that consistency over perfection, too. Um, it's getting in strength training, man. Maybe you got a busy day, but you know you need to do strength training that day because you already know you're not gonna get it another day, and it's doing a 15 minutes uh session instead of that 30 minutes that you need to do the whole workout, right? That is consistency. Um it's being able to communicate either with yourself or with your coach and say, man, this this week felled off instead of pretending that everything's fine. Um, and it could feel off for a variety of reasons. It could be that you are fatigued, it could be that work is stressful, you could be on your period, you could be about to start your period. So many things could make you feel off. Um, so being honest with yourself about why it is, just to ensure that you aren't overtraining, um, that there aren't maybe you need to prioritize sleep more, maybe you're not eating enough. There are so many things that when you are consistent with that feedback about yourself, whether, like I said, it's to a coach, whether it's to your whether it's just to yourself, that could be contributing factors to that feeling. So when a week feels off, like it does matter um that you're consistent with that feedback. Because if it's food, okay, let's say I need to eat a little bit more, let's figure that out. If it's sleep, is there a way I can prioritize more sleep there? Um, is it work stress? And I do, I'm very understanding of work stress, y'all. And sometimes it's very hard to manage. But what is it? Or is there something that can change to help with that? So I'm hitting this one really hard because a lot of times people will just continue to push and push through, like, let me get every run-in, let me get every project at work, like let me just do it myself, let me do all of these things, and they pretend everything's fine when things are just on fire. Um, and if you can be consistently honest with yourself, you're gonna be able to work through that and and and then be consistent in your training. Be consistent with trail running, be consistent with strength training, be consistent with cross training, whatever it is you're doing out there. And if you can't tell, this doesn't just have to do with running, it can be done like any kind of sport, any kind of thing in life, but that's how we need to think about it. So, and that last one does matter a lot more than people realize. I feel like this is a pretty simple lesson, by the way, today, but I'm I'm gonna be repetitive as I always am because that's how I talk. So you get the point of the consistency over perfection. Um, I hate to see when people they miss a run and they kick themselves so hard, you know, and it's like let's talk about like what'd you miss the run for, first of all? And sometimes you're like, I just didn't feel like it. I didn't do it. Okay, so you miss one run. Who cares, right? When you start missing regularly, like say you miss you miss two runs and then three runs, or like you get going for a week and then you stop for a week, and then you get going for a week and then you stop for two weeks, and you get going for three weeks, like that kind of inconsistency when I see that in a somebody, or if I see that in myself, I'm like, dude, what's going on in my brain? Like, what's happening up there? Because something's happening with me. Is my anxiety high? Um, am I worried too much about something else? Am I having confidence issues? Like, what is going on up there? Because a lot of times inconsistencies have to do with what's going on in your head rather than what's going on with you physically. I'm not gonna say 100% of the time I'm not that kind of person. I hate people who use those like always and forever and all that stuff. But it is something to keep in mind if you do see yourself being inconsistent with like hitting your runs and your strength training and and missing things. And the reason isn't there's you don't have you can't think of a good reason. Like you're if your brain is like, I'm sleeping enough, like I'm not really tired, I just can't do it. Like, you gotta think about why. Why? And that's not something I can diagnose, by the way, but I have been there, and like just to be honest, like mine has been more around just like anxiety and being frozen instead of getting up. That's been several years since that happened, but I have been there, and it's like I would just not get up and run, I would freeze, or I'd miss a gym workout, or I wouldn't get my food prepped, and I was super, super inconsistent, and it was all in my head, and I'm not saying like it wasn't true in my head, but it was anxiety that was causing me to freeze. So just saying like be honest with yourself about that kind of stuff. So, um, because if you're not honest, like you can't adjust, you can't get the support you need, and you can't actually move forward. And that is so impactful to how your training's gonna go. So, yeah, consistency isn't just about that time on feet, the miles, the effort. It's important, but it's not just that. It's a whole bunch of things, but it's showing up physically, uh mentally, and emotionally on a regular basis. So if you cannot do that, um think about what's going on. And hopefully you can get the support and the help and everything you need to move through that and like and sit in that. Sometimes you just gotta sit in and you gotta figure it out, but you know, get the help you need, get the support you need, and that way you can be like, okay, figuring this out, it's gonna be a little bit messy. It is a little bit messy, let's get moving forward. So that is consistency over perfection. For me, it's a simple thing to like say aloud about what it is and explain to you like all the things there, but it's definitely different when you're working through some shit. So, um, but that really is point number one to like the three things I care about more than pace is that consistency over perfection. And those are really the reasons why. So, um, number two though is that effort over pace, and I don't know how much hard I'm gonna hit this. I have everything written down, but I've talked a lot about effort um in a few episodes because I have found that runners tend to not hit their effort as they should. They either like to go too hard um or they like to go longer than they're supposed to. So um we're gonna get into this just a little bit and we'll see how long ago. So um effort over pace, and this is where I see a lot of people um get tripped up, including myself, especially when I was a baby trail runner. So um, and I did this just like a couple weeks ago, like easy feels wrong to people and struggle feels right. So if we're going too easy, people don't see that, don't think that they're gonna progress. They start looking at the pace on their watch, you know, like, oh my gosh, like I'm on this trail and I should be going, you know, this fast. And really, it is all about effort. Um, if you have an easy effort run, like it should be easy. If you have a harder effort run, it should be in that RPE range that I've talked about in the past. Um, but like when you go out for an easy run, you're like, shouldn't I be doing more? No. No. Like, what but what do people do? They push. They push and they push and they push because they think, okay, like this is what I'm supposed to be doing. This is how I'm gonna get to be a better runner, and all of that. But they will turn an easy day into a medium day, they turn a medium day into a hard day, and now everything is just kind of hard all the time. So, um, joke about that, but I'll to keep that to myself. Uh, I'll let you have that one. Uh, but so it goes from being easy to medium, medium to hard. And then you're like, well, why am I tired? Why am I not getting faster? Uh, why did that race feel like crap? Well, because you're not listening to what you should be doing. So, effort, you're sweet, you need to put the right amount of effort into each one of your runs. So, we're gonna have by the way, I'm gonna split efforts into a couple different th pieces right now because effort is seen in different ways. Right now, I'm talking about that rate of perceived exertion. Um, I will link those episodes uh below in the show notes because those will help you understand what I'm saying probably a little more. Um, but it is definitely like knowing when to push hard and when to have your easy days. So typically you have one, maybe two hard workouts in a week, and the rest are easy runs, and you have one long run in a week. Um so if you are pushing constantly above that easy, even if it's into a medium, on the days you're supposed to be pushing into a higher effort level, normally you can't. You are not able to push as hard as what you could because you have never recovered um from all the other stuff. You were just constantly pushing yourself. So you're gonna be tired. You might plateau, you might feel beat up all the time, you might just burn out and give up on running, right? Same goes for lifting too, you know, like especially whenever you're training for ultras, many times you're not gonna be lifting as heavy as what you could. Um, I do one heavy day a month right now. Um, and I might not have any more of those actually now that we're getting close to Coca-Dona, but like one actually heavy day, and the others are pretty like we'll say medium, you know, maybe around an effort level of seven. But because if I try to do too much, like then my runs are gonna suffer too. And the whole point for me of strength training, well, it's to have a sustainable long life and like be able to, you know, be independent and do things on my own. But it's also to be a complement to that running. So it makes my running better and stronger and more efficient so I can run longer and further. That's what that's for. So if I am beating up my body and lifting all the time, I'm again gonna be tired, I'm gonna plateau, I'm gonna feel beat up, I'm gonna burn out, all of those things. So I don't care what your watch is, and I have a whole episode on that one, you've got to focus on what that effort is. So your actual easy day should actually be easy. Like you could keep going, going, like you could just hold a conversation with somebody. You finish and you feel like you've got something left. If you are feeling like you were just completely done after a one-hour easy run, you need to evaluate what your effort level was. Love level was for sure. Now, you could do an easy long run. This is where I'm just gonna nuance this, just so you know. And you could be done and you're like, oh my gosh, I'm going to die. That's what happened to me on Friday. I had a six-hour long run, um, and it is getting hot here, and I was like, I feel like crap. Now, I went home and within a couple hours I, you know, rehydrated, ate, and I felt a whole lot better. So I knew I took it easy. It's just more, I just want you guys to have that nuance. Because yeah, when you're running that far and the weather's getting hotter or the weather's changing on you, you could feel that way, like you don't have anything left. But hopefully you should be if or you should be able to recover quickly if you did take that easy effort easy. Um, and you can feel that with shorter runs too. I don't want to take that away from you. There's days where things are just harder, whether it's the weather, whether you didn't sleep well or anything like that, you could do an easy run and still feel like meh at the end. But again, like if you are truly doing easy effort runs and they're not for a super long time, typically you should feel like you have something left in the tank. So that's great. That's where we want you. That's is and that is still considered work. That is still considered work towards the goal that you have. Um, but people do miss that. So it's not oh so whenever I'm I'm coaching and I'm looking at at things again, like I've already talked about the consistency of refraction, I'm looking at that effort over pace. And how do I see that? Well, I just get to know my runners and know like where what they're because I can see pace and everything in in the app I use for my runners, but it is a lot of feedback. So when I talked about that consistent feedback above uh with yourself or with your coach, that's why it's important here too, because I sometimes I can tell I'm like, all right, that was definitely they pushed that run, like I know them, like that was it. Um but if if people aren't being honest about the feedback, then it is hard to tell that they are going too hard until maybe it's too late, or they're halfway into the block and like they're just super fatigued, or they're just they're not, they're not feeling good. They're not, they're like, man, I'm actually running slower. Like even on my easy runs, like everything just feels heavy. So it's good to be very, very honest about that effort and not look at that pace. Uh, because in trail running, we do, we do, we train for duration, uh, which is not mileage, it's time on feet, and then we also train based on effort. So, like easy days easy, hard days hard. I mean, that is really how you build the actual like physical fitness without burning yourself off out. And also, it builds, it builds the mental fitness too, right? Like if you are constantly feeling tired and you are constantly feeling burnt out, it is very hard to build like uh the mental durability that you need to be out there too. And we can put it this way in life too, with effort. You know, if you are always giving that 10 out of 10 on the effort scale of being a friend, um, being a partner, um, being a colleague at work, being uh, you know, working for for your boss, if you are always like going hard and hard and hard, and like that is that is going to burn you out so bad. Maybe you end up hating your job, maybe you're just tired, maybe your work starts to stuffer. Maybe it takes you longer to do things. Um, and also when you're putting that much effort into everything else, and then you try to go for a run or you do some lifting, um, you you know go for a bike ride, whatever it is you're doing, that feels so much harder too, because you're putting all this effort into everything. You're putting what I'm just gonna say 110%. I hate that phrase, but you're putting so much into every single thing instead of bagging off sometimes. And people again, people think that like struggle, struggle is progress, and it's not. I'm not saying we're never gonna struggle. Geez, like struggling and working through a challenge, that will progress you. But if you are constantly feeling like you were struggling, if you're constantly feeling like you are drowning, um, if you are constantly feeling like you are going a mile a minute, like I talk, that does lead to that burnout. That does lead to shitty running, that does lead to shitty strength training. Um, that leads to feeling like shit, period. Um, so that's why whenever I say, hey, why is this in my top three? Because effort does matter. The other side of effort, like this is really like I just talked about like just the levels of it, but also putting in the effort to make something work for you. So what I mean is figuring out what schedule works for you for running, like with your life and everything else. I have a whole episode on scheduling yourself too. Imagine that. But like, what kind of effort are you putting into making things work? Are you putting effort into like your job and your relationship? Um, but you're not putting effort into your running and then either you're missing runs or your shortening runs all the time, or are you doing like vice versa, where you're putting everything you have into training and then you're letting other things slide too? Like that does have an impact on you. Whether whether you feel it right away or not, sometimes it takes a while to actually see what we're doing, but having the right effort and the right things at the right time can be a balance, um, especially when it comes to these longer distances that that we run. Uh, because I mean, it does. Like, we are out there for longer. Um, when we are put any effort into anything at all, it does take away from our energy. Like some things do give us some energy, but it doesn't mean we're not like tired by the time we're done at the end of the day, or we don't feel tired by midweek. So it is knowing like where are we putting our effort and at what times. Um, for me, I feel very fortunate having like a flexible work schedule. Pretty flexible life, in my opinion, compared to what I hear like my athletes and my friends tell me, like, I'm super grateful that I have that. But like, it is also um can be a double-edged sword where sometimes flexibility is like, oh, I got time to do this. Like, right now it's Tuesday, I'm doing this podcast, and I should have done it on Sunday, but I didn't. So, like, but the point is, like, I've got the flexibility in my effort. I have, I can focus effort in different areas, and I feel like I've got a pretty good cadence for me. I talk to people who like sometimes they're at work till seven o'clock at night, you know, and they started at eight o'clock at night. In the morning. Um, and it's like, well, and they didn't do their run in the morning because the day before they stayed at work late, or like they did an evening run because the day before that was a really hard work day. And like they've got kids, or they've got pets, or they've got a partner, they've got whatever it is. So they're trying to figure out, like, holy crap, like I'm so spread thin on time and energy, like, where the heck can I fit this in? Um, so they do have to be super intentional about like the effort that they're taking at work, at home, and with everything else, and figuring out where they're spending their energy and how much effort they're putting into each thing. I don't have some big wrap-up to this section on that of like, hey, like if you signed up for this race, you should focus your effort, more effort here than you should with your work. Like, that's not how that works. Uh, people are unique and their jobs are very different. So I can't say that. But yeah, if you do sign up for a race, hopefully you have taken into account like all the things, all the challenges you're gonna have in fitting in the right pieces in the right place with the right effort and all of that. So if you've got questions on that, feel free to reach out. These are things that I really like to talk about because I coach a lot of people who are busy as shit, and it's my job to help them figure out where to where to place their energy, um, how to make time for it, and then how to put the right amount of effort, not just into running and strength training, but other things too. And I'm not saying like don't do your job. Uh, that's not what the point of this is, but like sometimes we do put a lot of effort into our work, and we don't have to put that much into it. And I'm not saying be lazy, I'm saying figure out how to use your effort. So again, if I put effort over pace is this one, but it's not just effort over pace of actual like running pace, but effort over pace in work, effort over pace in life, effort over pace in just everything. So, um, not that we can't get faster, but effort is where we will get better and we will feel better and we will get more efficient, which can lead to being faster, stronger, and all that good stuff. Okay. Number three, joy over comparison. Um, and you're gonna be like, what? Why does this have to be in the top three? That doesn't really have anything to do with the physical part of running. And it doesn't, but it does. Um, so I'm gonna start just with joy, period. Um, I have worked with people for a short period of time because if I learn they don't like running and they actually don't like running, I do decide to part ways with them. Um, but if you don't like running, then why are you doing it? I mean, that seems to me like a simple question, but a lot of us got into stuff, and I don't want to say like every single person, but many of us were like, oh man, like we need like for me, I was I've always been an athlete and I just never stopped moving, but I could have. I have I have uh friends, you know, I played sports with in my life who like did take a break in between, and then they try to get back into things and all of that. But like what I mean by that is a lot of people be like, oh my gosh, like I'm an adult now, I don't have practice, I don't have PE, I don't have whatever it is, so what the heck can I do? And people will, well, running is supposedly the most easy thing to do because you need a pair of shoes and that, and just so you know, it is more than that once you get really into it. But they don't really like it. They're just like, well, I need to be in shape, or I gained a few pounds, or all of these things. So they don't feel joy for it. They're just like out there grinding it out just because like this is something that I need to do. So like I don't get so so I can like maintain my, you know, figure of 18, which that's not a thing, guys. That's not a thing. I'm 40, it's not a thing. But and I'm not dissing you for that. There were things that I did, especially in my mid-20s, uh, that I was like, I'm gonna do this because like I need to make sure that I, you know, keep my body looking a certain way, that my stomach is flat, that my thighs look like this, you know, like all of all of that. So like I've been there. So I have done things um that I was not joyous about. I did activities, I did, holy shit, what was the beach body workout? Mmm, insanity. I cannot remember the instructor on that one. Uh muscular black guy. Oh my gosh. But anyway, that was one of my things. It's like I I got the DVDs, um, and like I did that and I followed their um their their meal plan, uh, which is not enough to eat, by the way. It is not enough. And I shrunk by the way. Oh, I shrunk myself. But like I was miserable. I was not happy, and I had no idea. I didn't start running till I moved to Arizona, by the way, outside of a couple miles, like here and there and when I lived in St. Louis. But like, I wasn't doing things for like the joy at that time. And then um the only thing that I was doing for myself that I really enjoyed was weightlifting. I've been weightlifting since I was 20. Um, and that is where I find a heck of a lot of joy, and I am still doing that. So it's been, man, this year'll be 21 years. Uh, but when I talk about that joy, that's what I mean. You have to find something you like. So if you're listening and you are a runner right now and you're like, I really fucking hate running, there's something out there for you. You know, jump on a bike, jump on uh jump in the pool. Uh, try something, try something different. Um, because it is important to have that joy when you're out there. It is not fun to run if you don't like joy. It's also not fun to coach somebody who doesn't enjoy running. It's a very weird kind of relationship. And my goal is, part of my goals as coaching is to have somebody do what they want to do. And if it's not running, that's okay. But there is something for out that you can have joy for. Okay, so that's really how I see joy is like it's gotta be something you want. You gotta have some fire for it. And also, don't just run once and say, I hate it. The first time running, or the first time running in a long time, it's gonna feel really bad, probably. Uh, especially if you start in the summer here. But a lot of times, like, especially if like you haven't been moving a whole lot or um you haven't done a lot of cardio, those runs feel really hard. Or what even if it's biking or swimming, um, something that's cardio related, it might not feel good that first or second or third time, maybe even fourth or fifth, right? Your body has to like get used to what you're doing. So don't just give up after one shot. Um, do give it a few times because it is hard. The first few times are hard. Um, but I do uh encourage you to find a group trail run if you if you so feel inclined to be with a group, one that is actually a now no-drop uh running group too, and give it a shot if you'd like to. But yeah, but again, you gotta try it. Try it a few times. Then if it really isn't something you you love, like find something else. That's okay. All right, but let's pretend that you do have joy for running or joy for something. This can work for anything you do. Um let's talk about joy over comparison now then. Uh, because this one can be real, real sneaky for some people. Um, and some people know it right away, but it's very hard to get out of their heads. Um because a lot of times you could be training and you feel great. You know, things are going well, like you see you're seeing improvements in your fitness, or you're just feeling like mentally good because you're moving in the mornings, or like you're on your lunch break doing your run, and it gives you energy for the rest of the day, or you're running in the evenings after you've had a big day of work, whatever it is. Um, and then you scroll, or you check ultra sign up, or you see someone else's pace, or you see someone else's weekly mileager time on feet, and all of a sudden you don't feel like you're doing enough. You don't feel like you're enough because you are busy looking at other people's things. Like, that doesn't normally do anybody any good. Um, I'm not saying you can't go on Strava and see what people are running. Like, I'm not a big Strava I am on Strava, I'm not a big Strava person, but like it doesn't mean you can't do that. It doesn't mean you can't follow, you know, other runners on Instagram. But if you are a person who tends to compare and it takes away from you, it takes away from your training, it makes you feel like you are not enough, you know, it's something, then you might need to make a change. Whether it's you don't have Strava on your phone, uh, whether you don't follow certain people on Instagram, whatever it is, it is so important not to compare like that. It's also important not to compare yourself to a prior version of yourself. Um, I had somebody bring this up in um my group, Cocorse Trailblaze Her, I believe it was Suzanne, and just like how she would look back, be like, this is what I used to be able to do, but like our bodies change. We go through stuff. And it's not that in that moment we can't be faster than what we are, but when you're looking at yourself, like if I look at like 16-year-old Brittany, I mean, I could run up and down a basketball court and everything and never stop. I could run around the bases probably a hundred times, that might be an exact, but like and still feel good, you know, like there was definitely different, different types of speed, different types of recovery things are just different now. So, like comparing to your past self in that way can be harmful. I'm not saying don't ever look back. Like I look back to where I came from. You know, I wasn't, I didn't start trail running um till I was 33, uh, which isn't old, but I just like I that's when I started trail running. And I look back at like what a baby trail runner I was. I was too scared to run alone because it was trails. Um, I didn't do speed work or anything like that. You know, it was just like out there running with friends, which by the way, totally cool, totally fine to do. That is so much fun. But like I will look back and see that and be like, wow, like I've grown a lot. Like I've learned a lot, um, I've made more friends. Now I run solo, I run with people, I do workouts on the trail. I will go to a trail all by myself that I have never been to. Like I do see that growth. But what I don't want to compare myself to are speeds that I have had before. Um, or uh not just speeds, but just where I've placed in races before, all of that. It's not that those aren't good memories, but I also am like, dude, like things are different, and that's all there is to it. So I do try to focus on okay, like I love running, let's focus on the love that I have for running and the work I can do right now, the progress I can make right now. Because comparing yourself to others and bringing yourself down isn't gonna help you. So even if you're proud of yourself just five minutes ago, I know people who've got on Instagram and within like two seconds, they're feeling down. So comparison will take something that was meaningful, meaningful for you and make it feel small. Um, and really like your training, your training is in your life with your responsibilities, with your bodies, and not anybody else's. And that is so important to keep like top of mind if you are a person who compares yourself a lot or looks at ultra sign up a lot to see who else is racing or race you're racing, or if you're on Strava looking at people's pace or looking how much at how much they've run. Um, I was talking to Meg, my PT, um, yesterday, and she was she was just talking about how one of her friends is also training for a Coca-Dona in a big weekend he just had, and I was like, my brain went to, whoa, like that's not even close to what I've run in a weekend yet. And I don't even know if I will run that much in a weekend. Uh and at the same time, like, I did think, like, that was the first initial thought. And then I was like, dude, this guy's got different goals, different experience, different background. Uh, who knows what else, right? So, like, his training is gonna look different than mine, even though we're doing the exact same race. So, like, yeah, I just thought of it now as I'm telling you this, because it's not written down, but like it didn't impact me and takeaway from the work I've done because I've been working very hard for it. It's just like, okay, this dude has done some shit and he can train more time on feet like he did. He can run through the night and do some different things, you know, right now that and I'm not there yet, and that's okay. Like, that's totally fine. If you can do that and you can take and your mind just does that, that's great. Not everybody has that capability, and that's not a judgment, that's just how it is. It's good to know, like, am I a person who compares myself? Does it take away from what I do? And what do I need to do to not do that anymore? Yeah. So that could be, by the way, going to therapy. I have been to therapy a couple of times, it has helped so much. Um, so I'm a I'm a huge advocate for it. But for some people, it might just be like, hey, I can't follow this person on Instagram. Or, hey, you know what? Like, I can't, I can't be on Strava. Like I can, I can have Strava, but it can't be on my phone because I look at stuff too much. Um, and it could just be, like I said, talking to somebody and figuring out like, why does my brain always go to the negative instead of being proud of what the heck I'm doing out there? Because what we do out there is very, very hard. Um, so that's why, like, first of all, like having that joy of running, right? The joy of the actually loving what you do um is so important. And then also like not comparing yourself. So having that joy over comparison. Like, if you are already a person who doesn't really like running, um, or you're kind of running a little bit mad all the time because like you're comparing yourself, that's a very hard spot to be in, and that's gonna impact so many different areas of your life. So, first, again, find find what you have joy in. If it's running, if it's trail running, whatever, great. If it's not, find something. And then once you have that joy, and if you find yourself comparing yourself to others and it's bringing you down, it's taking you away from yourself, figure out what the heck you need to do. Maybe it's professional help, maybe it's as simple as deleting an app, maybe it's just talking to a friend. Like some things aren't as deep as what we think it is. Like, I I like to do like the real deep work when I need it, but some things aren't that deep, and sometimes just figuring out, sometimes just talking to somebody and bouncing something off of somebody. Um, so keep that in mind. When you find your joy, don't lose your joy by comparing yourself to others or comparing yourself to your prior self. Okay. So, because when you do that, especially when you lose your joy in what you're doing, or you don't even have it, everything starts to feel heavier and heavier. It's like something you have to do instead of something that you get to do. Um, when you get to say I get to do this, like changes things so much, by the way. Um, and that's not the goal of what we're doing here. It's not that we have to do it, we get to do it. Um, because you don't need to be the fastest or the strongest person on the trail, but you do do need to actually enjoy what you're building. So if you're thinking, Brittany, you're a little bit of a hippie, that's fine, I don't mind that. Um, but but when you're thinking about your training, like instead of asking, am I fast enough? Am I doing enough? Is this good enough? I want you to ask yourself these three questions. Am I being consistent? Am I putting the right effort in the right places? And am I still finding joy in this? So am I being consistent? Am I putting effort in the right places or the right effort at the right places? And am I still finding joy in this? Because if those three things are yeses, like you're on the right track. So keep those questions in mind. Am I being consistent? Am I running or am I doing the right effort at the right time? And am I still finding joy in this? Alright, so remember you don't need perfect weeks, you don't need perfect numbers, and you definitely know you don't need to prove anything to anyone on the internet or outside of the internet. You need consistency, you need intention, and you need to actually like what you're doing. Because that's what keeps you showing up. And that's what takes you further than any pace ever will. Alright, y'all, that's what I've got for you today. If this episode helped you out, um made you laugh, made you a little bit excited to get out there and run, or made you think, do I have joy in running? That's okay. But take a second, share with a friend, drop it in a group chat that's going nuts. Um, and if you could leave a rating or review for me, y'all. I know I have people reach out to me about uh these episodes, and I love that. But I don't have that many ratings or reviews to show for the people who reach out to me. And just so you know, it helps this podcast grow and it helps everyday people, like find find this space. Um, and the more people in this space, I hope the more people I can help. So, and if you're new here, hit follow or download the episode so you don't miss any more, because that would be awesome. Okay. Now, go move your body, drink some water, stretch your cast, and if you're listening while running, loosen your shoulders. You're welcome. Good effort, a positive attitude.