Lessons from a Running "Journey"

Coaching Lessons from a Running ”Journey” – in professional life and personal:

Running lately has become one of the more relevant sports for young and not so young (we need a better word for not so young). A sport which most people around me feel is a better way to stay healthy, mindful, and focused. I keep hearing endearing stories of how people embraced the sport and since then they have not looked back.

My journey started with inspirational runner family members, friends, and peers around me. It all started more than 8 years back and it has been onwards & forwards since then.

?I ran my first race, a 16 KM, a trail run and was both elated and surprised with the timing. That prompted me to register for more runs, it gave me a different high. The adrenaline rush, the post run celebrations, sharing on Facebook (sorry Meta now ??), getting likes from family and friends and so on… The whole process motivated me to run more regularly and practice consistently. I starte to understand and focus on other aspects like strength training, hydration plan, pacing plan, nutrition etc. I picked some recommended good reads and slowly I started seeing the progress and improvement in my form, pace and timing.

But soon I realized that it is easier said than done. I was running multiple half marathons, but my consistency was far from good. During some runs I was lacking the pace, in few the timing and in others the fitness. It was demotivating as it broke my impression of “I am progressing well and I have mastered the art ??”…

And that’s when I decided to take few steps back and reassess. I realized I was overlooking one important thing -I was repeatedly doing the same thing and not getting results and still continued doing the same thing. That was the moment I realized that I need to have an outside-in view of where I was going wrong. In that moment I signed up with a local running group, which was guided by a Running Coach, an accomplished ultra-runner.

Signing up with the coach was the moment of change for me. He worked on a customized plan for me – a running schedule with variations which were beyond my comprehension at that point in time. He constantly gave his inputs, critical feedback, motivated and pushed to test my limits. In short, helped me to realize my potential with continuous practice and working on the areas of improvement. He would challenge me every time I slacked; he would give a pep talk every time I was not happy with my run. That is what the Coach does for you in life as well – helps you realize your potential, helps you define the direction and goal “you” want to achieve, helps “you” define the plan to achieve the goal.

And then it happened. I improved my half marathon timings by a good 21 minutes in 2 months flat. That is the power of Coaching. It helped me run my first Full Marathon in a good time in testing conditions, which I further improved on in a month later by 14 minutes. I trained for an ultra and was good to do a 60K ultra the same year. That was the year of my achievements in running.

When I started out running, I never believed that one day I will run a full Marathon, but I did and in a decent time. It was the Coaching, consistent training, and improvement over a period of time which helped me achieve my target.

When I look back at my journey in the sport, sure it was to become healthy and fit, what I did not realize was the fact that running gives one a lot more than just fitness. It gave me lessons in my personal and professional life. I could see relevance of the lessons from running. Some of the life lessons I learnt from Running (and the Coaching which went with it) are summarized below – but these lessons are true in a professional life as well.

1.?????Focus and discipline - It is about discipline. Waking up at 4 in the morning and be at the starting line at 5 am consistently. To train for your run needs a lot of discipline – sleep early, eating right, being on time to run with the squad.

2.?????Running for me was my “Me” time – it was that one-hour Meditation for me – to be Mindful and be Present in the moment. It helped me to de-clutter my mind and keep my mind fresh for other activities during the day and help prioritize.

3.?????The Process is important – How you start your day, do the warmup, complete your run, hydration and nutrition, Cool down post the run and so on. If you are consistent in the process, rest of the things will fall in place. And a very important thing – Process takes time, so be consistent and patient in the journey to reach your goal – No shortcuts.

4.?????Outside – In View - You need an “Outside-In” view to improve/better yourself, to push you, to kick you to move forward (That is why you have the bosses ??)

5.?????Importance of Teamwork – When we are running, we run in a group and each person tags onto another person /s to push each other, at their own pace, to give the motivation.

6.?????Power of Observation (and listening) – Listen to your body (and your peers and customers) on signs when you can run faster or need to slow down. Observe your running buddy and tag along, that will help you pace yourself nicely.

7.?????You race with yourself – My Coach always said, “Focus on your run and work on improving on your previous best” – each person has his / her own journey (and pace) – so the race is against your previous self, this puts you in a different mindset.

8.?????Belief and Confidence – Visualize yourself running the race at a certain pace, visualize yourself crossing the finishing line. “It is all in the mind” – If you believe you can, you will.

9.?????Mindfulness – Running teaches you mindfulness, to be in the moment and focus on the present. This is a skill I believe we all need to inculcate with so many distractions today.?