In this blog I’ll explain:

why I re-started the NHS Couch to 5k programme despite the fact that I have been regularly running 10k and longer
the valuable lesson learned about trusting programme design.

I love running

But recently I’d fallen out of love with it…

Last October I ran my 7th Marathon, I’d trained well and enjoyed the day, especially as I was also celebrating my 50th birthday. Then I took a few weeks “recovery time”, then came Christmas and New Year and before I knew it was February and my running mojo had, well, run away!

My general fitness was sound, due to being an active participant in the Club Synergy NETworking events I host and I thought I had nothing better to do than just lace up the trainers and head out. Oh how wrong I was. I hated that first run of 2021 and I’ve pretty much struggled though every once since. Yes I was “running” a good few miles at a time but when your water and “I’d better just check that message I heard coming in” breaks are outnumbering your total miles for the session, you are kidding yourself.

My own process of run a bit, run some more, build the distance, convince yourself you’re enjoying it, post said miles on social media and get some nice comments to replace the “shine” which I used to get from actually running WAS NOT WORKING. Something needed to change but I couldn’t find an answer until…

I read Tiny Habits by B.J. Fogg PhD and the fog lifted (sorreeeeeeee) .

Fogg, runs the Behaviour Design Lab at Stanford University and as the title of his book suggests he advocates starting small, very small, in fact tiny, as the way to achieve big changes. He notes that for a behaviour to take place these conditions need t be met:

the person must be motivated to do the behaviour
the behaviour must be really easy to do
a prompt should exist to trigger the behaviour.

As we know , motivation is a fickle thing, sometimes there and cheering us on, sometimes hiding out somewhere unreachable, it’s unreliable and can easily be talked out of something if a better offer comes along (like the chance to have a water break!).

And just like that the answer to reclaiming my running mojo came to me... I was trying to do bigger and better when I really needed to start smaller and simpler and what better way to do that than to reconnect with the Couch to 5K (C25K) Programme that had served me so well in my earlier days as a runner. The whole programme has behaviour design at the core. The app becomes the prompt, it starts small and gears you up for success from the get go.

On some days, I feel like I could run for much longer than the specified running times with the session but I know that on tough days, finding the energy and willpower to keep my feet moving for the minimum time is still very much within reach. It’s a huge lesson in learning to trust the process as well as being a pragmatic example of habit design in action. I’m encouraged to stick with it and not get carried away after a “good run” thinking I can take on the world and, most importantly, I’m LOVING my running again.

Trust the Process...Rediscovering the Joy of Running