Last weekend I ran my first trail race, Kielder Marathon. It’s advertised as the most beautiful marathon in Britain, but being a proud Highlander and having previously taken in 26.2 miles along the banks of Loch Ness, I was reserving judgement.

This race lives up to it’s name…

The scenery is stunning. Yes it’s hilly, my watch recorded nearly 1800 feet of elevation, but the views take your breath away and make the challenging route enjoyable. Having my assumptions challenged is one of the things I learned from training for, and running, Kielder. In this blog I will share some others.

Trust the Training Process

I signed up for Kielder because the route takes you round the biggest man made lake in the UK. I rather naively reckoned that this would mean gentle shore-side trails, maybe with the odd few metres of incline. Then I checked the elevation profile on the race website and realised this was not going to be a gentle pootle!

After a panicked message to Coach Bob, a wonderful Jog Scotland run leader and respected friend, I had myself a training plan, involving hills, LOTS of hills!

I’m fortunate to live in a part of Scotland where hills are easy to find. The Tak Me Doon and Crow Road, well known in cycling circles are both close by, so finding routes was not a problem. Motivation and belief were somewhat harder to find on occasion, but apart from a week out when Covid struck, I stuck to the plan. There were easy runs, interval sessions and hill reps, all working on different elements of race fitness. Did I feel ready in the run up to race day…no! Did the plan work, hell yeah!

This lesson is not specific to trail running, it applies across disciplines, but this was the first time I really took my plan to heart, listened to Bob and (for once) did as I was told! Easy runs were kept really easy - pace was switched off on my Garmin and I worked to heart rate so that I would not be tempted to run faster. Anyone else have ego issues seeing a “slow” pace on Strava?

Hill reps were built slowly, both in terms of gradient and time, and this built confidence but there was still a niggling worry that I hadn’t run steep enough or long enough.

Intervals were there to help with pace, feeling into “race pace” and pushing beyond comfort for periods.

It all came together on race day. I smiled all the way round, felt strong and achieved my “secret” target. I had said to those who asked that “I just wanted to get round” and that I wasn’t really concerned about the time. My unvoiced hope was that I could come in under 5 hours. I did, and never again will I question the wisdom of Coach Bob’s training plans!

No one really cares about times…(except maybe the top 5% of the field)

While I have just shared that I had a secret goal attached to this race, that says everything about my road running background and very little about the nature of trail running. It really is all about the experience, cameraderie, enjoyment and celebration of moving your body, outdoors. There was a real sense of being “in it together", other runners were warm, welcoming, sociable, a source of inspiration and information. All keen to convert this trail virgin to a sport they participate in for the sheer love of running, not to smash PBs.

Kielder had the smallest by far, field of runners of any race I have entered - just 650 or so for the marathon distance. I started the race concerned about coming in last. I ended it with a lasting appreciation for the trail community.

Heroes are Humble…

Much of the success of Kielder is down to the brilliant organisation, engaging and encouraging marshalls and volunteers and being really clear about the type of race weekend it wants to create for those taking part. It is organised by Events of the North and takes place on land managed by Foresty England.

Old school pals !

Two of my childhood heroes, are involved with these respective organisations. Steve Cram, middle distance legend of the 80s, is a Director of Events of the North, while an old school pal of mine is Forestry England Public Affairs Manager for the North East. They are heroes for different reasons, one I had never previously met, another I hadn’t seen for nearly 30 years. One who inspired via achievements on the track in the public eye and the other who’s role is public relations but who has navigated a challenging private life with calm dignity.

I had the privilege of meeting both men this weekend and was struck by how similar in nature and approach to leading others they are. Service, empathy, care for others, pride in a part of the word they hold dear, and above all humility.

Yes, I learned a lot from this weekend’s run, and most of those lessons had very little to do with running!

If you Google “How to Start Running?” , the majority of results returned give you brilliant guidance on how best to start putting one foot in front of the other. Suggestions include:

• starting with small expectations

• using a run/walk strategy

• getting an accountability buddy to come running with you

These are all well-researched, useful suggestions but I believe that the key to starting and sustaining a running practice is found long before you set foot out the door. Becoming a runner is about taking on a new identity and as such, we need to examine the person we are right now and clear ALL obstacles to becoming someone who runs.

Knowing that starting with 30 seconds of running followed by a 2 minute walk break is great knowledge to have but essentially useless if you always find an excuse not to leave the house in the first place! Recognise any of these?

• I can’t find my trainers

• There’s this really important piece of work I have to do first…which then expands to fill all the time available

• I’ll start running after I have lost a few pounds, it will be easier that way

• I’ve just eaten, I’d better not go out now

• I could go and run but there are other things on my to-do list that “need” done first

• I’m in back to back meetings all day, there’s no time to run

Starting to run, starts with examining your existing habits…

To step into the identity of a runner we need to examine our existing behaviours and habits that have the power to derail our desire to run.

Consider the following questions:

1. What factors have stopped me from starting and sustaining a running habit in the past?

2. Am I willing to address these factors and make small changes right now?

3. What small task/action (that takes less than 2 minutes) can I commit to that will take me a tiny step closer to being a runner in the near future?

Let’s consider an example…

Meet Lisa, Lisa is a busy mum of 2 pre-teens. She runs her own business which requires her to be “on site” during working hours. She also does the admin and book-keeping for her partner’s business too.

Lisa wants to start running to improve her cardiovascular health as she approaches her 50’s and enjoy some well deserved “time out” just for her.

Her reasons for wanting to run are solid and motivating BUT….she has tried to start running in the past, goes out for a couple of times a week for a few weeks and then………well, you know! The overwhelm kicks in. It becomes another chore rather than being the break it was intended to be. Lisa is trying to do too much, too soon. She has limited time and energy but genuinely does want to “become a runner”.

So let’s work backwards from the end goal and identify actions that take 2 minutes or less to complete:

• set your morning alarm for 20 minutes earlier than usual

• Get up when the alarm goes off

• look out running kit each evening before bed

• dress in running kit each morning

• Leave house and walk to the gate and back

Week 1 - Starting with setting your alarm for 20 minutes earlier, do this for a week or so….you don’t even need to get out of bed when it goes off. Just celebrate the fact that you are awake 20 minutes earlier!

Week 2 - Get up when the alarm goes off and just enjoy having 20 extra minutes to yourself.

Week 3 - After the alarm goes off, look out your running gear and put it on your bedroom chair/end of bed. Do this daily for a week or so until it becomes an embedded habit (and you start feeling really silly because you’re putting the kit away again each evening!) You will be keen to add the next “stacked” 2 minute action.

Week 4 - After you have looked out the running kit, put it on. You might need to change out of the kit and into work gear after 2 minutes but…...you’ll be primed to start using the kit.

Week 5 - The next step (literally) is out the front door in your kit and trainers and have a walk to your gate and back in. Your neighbours will think you are bonkers but…….we now have a habit of leaving the door in your kit

Week 6 - After you leave the front door - run for 30 seconds, walk for 30 seconds two times (that’s 2 mins)

Week 7 - Add another 2 rounds of 30 second run/30 second walk

You get the picture, within a couple of months you will have stacked enough tiny micro habits to have embedded running into your daily routine. At this point, it’s likely that the running habit will be sufficiently strong to drop the number of days, but increase the time on your feet.

Now you can Google “How to start running?” and follow all the amazing advice!

Image by Ilias Chebbe

Should I run with music, a podcast or just the sounds of nature?

The answer……it depends!

And it depends on a few factors

• the purpose of your run

• how you are feeling

• the time you have available outside running

Let’s delve a little deeper into each of these.

The purpose of your run

Before deciding on what to listen to (or not listen to), think about the purpose behind your next run. Are you running to clear your head? Is your run part of a training block with a specific time or distance goal?

If you are running to clear your head, perhaps go “unplugged”, tune into the sounds of nature and focus purely on your movement and breathing OR select a Mindful Running podcast or playlist.

Have a specific time or distance goal as the focus for your run? Then consider creating or downloading a beats-per-minute playlist and run in time to the beat of the music. When we walk or run we tend to sync our movements to anything rhythmical we tune into. It’s almost impossible to run at a different tempo to something that is engaging our brain. The faster the song the faster you run. Try this 140bpm playlist from Runners Need to keep your pace up!

How you are feeling

Feeling strong, on top of the world and super-motivated to get out? It’s not going to matter whether you press play or run naked. Although, you may have to rewind that podcast or audio book to catch the bits you miss because you’re so focused on feeling awesome and gliding through your run.

Struggling to get out the door? Head to iTunes, Spotify or music platform of choice and find that track that always lifts your spirits, play it loudly while getting on your trainers and you’ll be pounding the pavement before you know it.

Or perhaps tune into a podcast to help remind you just how awesome you can be. Try WeCanDoHardThings with Glennon Doyle or The Big Leap with Gay Hendricks and Mike Koenigs

The time you have available outside running

If your schedule means that you need to double up exercise time with doing something productive, then running gives the ideal opportunity to do this. Our bodies are built to run, this means that we don’t really need to think about the action of running (unless you’re focusing on a particularly tricky trail) which leaves space in our brains to take in new information. Here are a few of my go-to podcasts guaranteed to get the grey matter working!

• Diary of a CEO

• The High Performance Podcast

• Re-thinking

• The Rich Roll Podcast

• Run the Business

And if you don’t want to fill your ears but have a specific problem to solve? Use your run to think through the problem from different angles. Check out Edward De Bono’s Six Hats Thinking and work your way through each thinking style as you run.

As you can probably guess, I usually switch between music, podcasts and audio books as running partners although more recently I’ve been running unplugged. I’m currently training for an “undulating” off-road marathon and find being out in the hills in nature more than enough, that might just be because you can’t hear anything else over the sound of my ragged, uphill breathing though!

So will you be plugged or unplugged for your next run?