March 1, 2025 • 19 mins
#132 - Inspire to Run Podcast host, Richard Conner, shares his recent experience with a Spartan DEKA Strong race and reflects on the lessons learned through embracing discomfort. Richard explores how pushing beyond comfort zones during training and races improves performance and details five practical ways to embrace discomfort in your training.
Topics Covered:
- How embracing discomfort in training improves performance
- Reframing discomfort as an opportunity for growth
- Using mantras to push through challenging race conditions
- Incorporating regular hard efforts to prepare for race day
Your Host
Richard Conner
Richard is a strategic marketing professional with experience in B2B marketing. Richard is the founder of Inspire to Run and is passionate about helping others reach their goals. He is a Connecticut native, a husband, dad, writer, Star Wars fan, and, of course, a runner!
Resources:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, my friend, I'm a little late in dropping this
episode, but I wanted to come onand share a short recap about
my Decker race last weekend,which is always a hard type of
race for me, but it got methinking about how can I embrace
discomfort in my training andmy races to help me perform
better, and I'd like to sharesome of those ways with you.
(00:21):
Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome to Inspire to Run Podcast.
Here you will find inspiration,whether you are looking to take
control of your health andfitness or you are a seasoned
runner looking for community andsome extra motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richardConner.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Hey, my friend, welcome to Inspire to Run
Podcast.
I hope you're doing well andI'm excited to share with you
some of the updates that I'vehad in my races recently.
I'm off to a decent start forthe year, I would say, and I'd
also like to talk about kind ofembracing discomfort in your
training and races.
And this is directly related tothe race I just had and it's
(01:10):
just been something that's beenon my mind for a few days after
that race.
And you know I keep tellingmyself after a DECA race that
it's so uncomfortable but it'sgoing to make me a better runner
.
So I kind of put me, put myselfthrough all of that pain and
discomfort but as an endurancerunner, kind of doing a lot of
the high intensity work andreally moving fast, it's just a
(01:33):
different type of race for me.
It's a different type of racethan I trained for and it just
makes it harder for me to do.
But I do that to get better atmy road races.
So I really started thinkingabout that and wanted to share,
you know, the reasons why I doit, which I talked a little bit
about, why I do Decker races inaddition to my road races, but
also like ways to embrace thatdiscomfort and things that I've
(01:55):
done and maybe that will helpyou kind of in your training and
your races.
But I'll just start off by justgiving a quick recap of this.
So the race that I did was atUnderdog Fitness.
So, as you know, coach Kevin ismy trainer and I've been going
to Underdog for a number ofyears now and he hosted a DECA
Strong Race last weekend and theDECA Strong Race has no running
(02:18):
.
So for a runner that's a littlebit daunting, right, there's no
running in it, but it'sbasically 10 functional fitness
kind of stations, if you will.
So you do lunges and box over,step overs, you have the skier
and air bike and just a numberof those types of stations and
it's something I've beentraining for for quite some time
(02:39):
.
But it's been two years sinceI've run a Decker Strong and
it's been one year since I'verun an entire race all the way
through, because last year I didteams races with a couple of my
teammates, mickey and Chrissy.
So this was the first time thatI did the Strong, first time in
a couple of years, first timethat I ran all the way through
(03:01):
in a long time, and the reasonwhy I did it was to just kind of
see how I was doing at each ofthe stations and just to see how
my fitness progressed, but alsoto see like, where are the
stations that I think I'm prettygood at and confident at and
where are the stations that Ithink I need help, and that's
really going to help me kind ofplan for my training for the
year and also plan my races withmy running mates.
(03:24):
So that's the reason why I didit and the race went okay.
I didn't get a PR like I did inmy road race just a few weeks
ago, so it's okay.
I'm kind of okay with thatbecause as I was going through
the different stations, I reallyfelt comfortable on each of the
stations.
I knew, you know, approximatelywhat my pace was going to be on
(03:46):
a number of the stations.
My technique was okay, kind ofgoing into those stations, and
it kind of fell apart maybeabout 75% of the way through the
race.
I kind of believe I know why orwhat happened kind of at that
point in time.
But out of the 10 stations Ireally kind of fell apart in the
last three.
I just kind of ran out of gasand pushed myself through.
(04:09):
So that was kind of hard.
But I would say, for the firstseven I felt really good about
my pace, I felt really goodabout my technique and I felt
really good about kind of goingthrough all the stations versus
kind of a team's race where youmay split the stations, you may
split the runs and oh, by theway, there was no running, so
(04:29):
there was no break and norunning for me.
So it was just straight up kindof going through those stations
.
So you know, all in all, Ithink it was an okay start to
the year.
I definitely know kind of whereI'm at, I definitely have more
confidence in those stations.
But there's a lot of work thatI need to do to achieve my goal,
which is to qualify for atleast two events at Deco World
(04:53):
Championships this year on topof all the other races that I'm
doing.
So whether I qualify asindividual or qualify for teams,
either way I'm just looking toqualify for at least two of
those races.
So so really kind of lookingforward to that and I have the
whole year to train and I thinkI'm off to a decent start, but
I've got a lot of work to do.
(05:13):
So kind of after that I was.
I kind of took a seat and I wasfeeling bad about myself for
about 10 minutes as a as Ibrought my heart rate back down
and I was starting to reflect onthe race.
But rate back down and I wasstarting to reflect on the race.
But I really started to thinkabout, well, why am I putting
myself through all this tortureif it's not the main race or
sport that I do and I talkedabout this in other episodes as
(05:35):
to why I do DECA.
But I really started thinkingabout one thing about this race
that may be different than otherthings that I do is that it's
very uncomfortable.
It's high intensity, it's workthat I'm not used to.
It's not part of my normaltraining, other than if I'm
doing speed work or things likethat.
So you know it's reallyuncomfortable.
(05:57):
So I started to think about andresearch well, you know, what
are the benefits of beinguncomfortable?
What are the benefits of kindof putting myself through this?
And you know some of the thingsare first is you get greater
confidence.
So kind of going through thesehard races or these hard
workouts.
(06:17):
When you're in it it's reallyhard and sometimes I just want
to quit, but I don't and I stickwith it.
But after you're done, then youget that confidence like, yeah,
I just did that, and even ifyou did it in training, you know
, hopefully that translates intoyour races and where you need
to perform.
But now that you have theconfidence that, hey, I did that
(06:38):
before I could do it again.
So that's the first benefitthat it gives you of kind of
being uncomfortable or embracingdiscomfort.
Next is improved performance.
So, of course, if you're notpushing yourself, you're not
growing.
So you've got to do things thatyour body's not accustomed to.
And yes, it's going to be hard,yes, it's going to be difficult
(07:00):
, yes it's going to hurtsometimes, but those are the
things that are going to helpyou improve your performance.
It's going to help you getfaster times.
It's going to help you bestronger, because you have to go
through those hard things tomake your body stronger and to
get faster.
And if you're not, if you'rejust doing the things that you
normally do and it's easy foryou, you're not really going to
(07:21):
be growing.
So that's another reason whyyou want to embrace discomfort.
And then the next thing isresilience.
So and it's not just resiliencekind of physically for sports
but also resilience in life,right, kind of that mental
resilience.
And the funny thing about thisis I was talking to someone just
(07:43):
a few years ago about my racesand they made a comment to me.
They were like you know what?
I know that if you're trainingthe way you do and you're racing
the way you do and you show upthe way you do in sports, that I
know you're going to do thesame thing here, kind of in the
nine to five right in the office.
And I really thought about thatand it kind of stayed with me
and I'm like, yeah, right,because it's not just me
(08:04):
physically improving andembracing kind of this
discomfort, you know physically,but it's also mentally being
able to do hard things.
So that really has kind ofstayed with me over the years
and I like to think that all thethings that I'm doing, you know
sports wise, is good for mephysically but it also
translates into other parts ofmy life.
(08:25):
So those are just three reasonswhy embracing discomfort is so
important, especially in yourkind of in your races and the
physical activity that you do.
But it's not an easy thing to do.
So whether, again, you're doingyour training, whether you're
in the races.
It's going to be hard, nomatter how much you train, no
(08:48):
matter how much you focus onyour mindset.
It's going to be hard, butthose things are going to help
you push through, those thingsare going to help you perform
better.
Those things are going to helpyou perform better.
So how can you embrace thediscomfort?
Well, the first way to embracediscomfort is to kind of think
about the discomfort as growth.
And I talked about a little bitwhen you're doing those really
(09:11):
hard workouts.
So let's say, I'm doing speedwork on the treadmill.
I used to dread speed work onthe treadmill.
I used to dread speed work onthe treadmill.
I still do.
But when I do them now, I thinkabout it as I'm doing the speed
work on the treadmill or on thetrack or whatever the case is.
I'm doing the speed work to getfaster in my races and I
(09:31):
believe that the better I'mdoing at that speed work, the
better off I'm going to be in myraces.
Same thing with DECA, specifictraining, right, if I'm doing a
hard training with, you know,the skier, or I'm doing burpees
or lunges, whatever the case is,that discomfort in that moment
of time is temporary but it'sgoing to help me with my races,
(09:56):
but it's going to help me withmy races.
So don't think about it as, ohmy goodness, I have to do this
really hard workout.
Think about it as I get to dothis workout and this is what I
need to do to be successful inmy races or whatever it is that
you're looking to do.
Whatever goals and objectivesthat you had and I talk about
races because a lot of my goalsare kind of centered around the
races, but maybe you havesomething different right?
So, whatever those goals are,whatever those objectives are,
(10:18):
think about this is what youneed to do to achieve those
goals and objectives.
Bit about this in a previousepisode.
It was episode 130, five waysto improve confidence and
(10:38):
enhance your runs with positiveself-talk.
And you know I talked about themantras that I use, which has
kind of changed over the years.
So at one point in time,especially when I was going
through half marathon trainingand races, I was using the
mantra I can, I will, I must,and that I had taken from a
motivational speaker and Istarted to use that, you know,
kind of through my own races andI've used other ones kind of
(11:02):
throughout the last few years,but the one that I use most
recently and not in the lastDECA race.
But the race before was noexcuses and that's what I said
to myself just kind of as Istarted the race and as I
progressed.
I was like no excuses and I'lltell you why.
So that particular race was onSuper Bowl Sunday and it
happened to snow here the nightbefore.
(11:24):
So they postponed the race togive the city enough time to
kind of clear the streets, whichthey actually did a relatively
good job, and it's great that itwasn't actually snowing during
the race, but it was before andthey did a good job clearing the
streets.
But there's a lot of racers inthis particular race.
It's a very popular race, localhere, and there's point in
(11:44):
times where there might be alittle snow and ice on the
ground.
There might be areas wherethere's not a lot of room
because there's a lot of racesand maybe because of the snow
pile up on the sides, you'rekind of crammed with a lot of
room because there's a lot ofraces and maybe because of the
snow pile up on the sides, youknow, you're kind of crammed
with a lot of the racers.
And I started to think like howin the world am I going to
achieve a PR on this particularcourse?
If I have these conditionsright, if I'm going to be
(12:06):
bumping into people, if I'mafraid of slipping on the snow
like, and the ground is wet like, how am I going to get a PR?
And all I thought about was Idon't want to get to the end of
this race making a whole bunchof excuses.
So that was kind of my mantraduring that race no excuses, I'm
just going to run this race asfast as I can, as best I can.
(12:26):
I'm going to rely on mytraining, I'm going to focus,
I'm going to try not to slip andfall.
I'm just going to really do thebest I can.
And if there's times I have toslow down, I have to slow down.
If there's times that I canspeed up, I can speed up.
But at the end of the day, noexcuses.
I don't want to look back andsay, well, I could have done
this and I could have done that,I could have done the other
thing.
So that's just the mantra I can, I will, I must, and kind of
(12:57):
more positive mantra.
So, whatever it is, just thinkabout what is it that can help
you stay focused on your raceand help you kind of just kind
of keep moving when things gettough.
The third way to embracediscomfort is train through
tough conditions.
(13:17):
So this one's kind ofinteresting because I
flip-flopped on this a few times.
So what are tough conditions?
So the first thing is youreally never know what you're
going to get on race day,especially if you're running
road races.
You don't know if you're goingto get a really hot day.
You don't know if you're goingto get a really cold day.
You don't know if there's goingto get a really hot day.
You don't know if you're goingto get a really cold day.
(13:38):
You don't know if there's goingto be wind or rain or, like an
example I just gave you, snow.
So you know it's helpful foryou to kind of train in those
conditions, because then you'rekind of accustomed to it.
Because if you haven't trainedin the cold and then you're
going to go out and run in thecold, that's going to be quite
challenging for you, right?
The challenging for you, right,the same thing for the heat.
So that's one thing that youcould do is kind of train for
(13:58):
those tough conditions.
I flip-flopped a little bit, sowhen I was doing a lot more
outdoor running, I would do itkind of through the winter.
Admittedly, I haven't done asmuch of it kind of this winter
because I was really focused ondoing my strength training.
So I would do more kind oftreadmill runs and I would mix
it on doing my strength training.
So I would do more, you know,kind of treadmill runs and I
would mix it in with my strengthtraining.
But as I prepare for my summerraces, I'm going to build in
(14:21):
more and more long runs and getoutdoors and again kind of
prepare for those raceconditions.
And I talked about this as wellon a few episodes that it's
really important for you to kindof train in those conditions in
which you're going to race.
In, the fourth way to embracediscomfort is to incorporate
(14:42):
hard efforts regularly.
So what does that mean?
So if you're, you know, ifyou're running Decker races, you
know hybrid races that could beyou know the workouts that you
do as part of those races, right?
So there's workouts that arekind of centered around the
different stations.
So you could do those.
If you're, you know, runner,road runner, you could do the
(15:02):
speed work, you could do hillworkouts, you could do intervals
.
There's a lot of differentthings that you could do, but
the important thing is is to dothose hard workouts.
Now it doesn't mean if you'retraining five, six days a week
that you're going to have fourto five days of really hard
workouts, right?
So you need those easy runs,you need those longer runs, you
need to be able to kind of mixup your training, but you need
(15:25):
to also incorporate those kindof hard workouts again to help
you to grow, to help you get itfaster, help you get stronger
and prepare for race day.
So typically what I do is, ifI'm running three days a week, I
typically will do one long run,maybe like at a zone two pace.
I'll do a shorter run, that'sprobably between a zone three as
(15:50):
my base and then zone four, andthen I'll do, you know, like
speed work, which is which isgoing to put me like zone four,
zone five, and it's typicallygoing to be faster than my, my
race pace.
So, whatever that looks likefor you, that's something that
you need to consider, to kind ofbuild into your workout.
So, again, if I'm doing threedays a week, at least one of one
(16:11):
of those days, those runningdays, is going to be a hard
workout.
If I'm doing four days a week,then I'll mix it up a little bit
and maybe have one to two daysof you know hard workout or kind
of that medium intensity.
And then the fifth way toembrace discomfort is really
just kind of stay present andfocus on you know what's in
(16:32):
front of you.
So one of the things that I'vereally been focusing on,
especially for the longer races,is, if you're thinking about a
half marathon, let's say, andyou have to run 13 miles, if
you're thinking about the 13miles that are ahead of you, or
the 12, 11, 10 miles, that'sgoing to be really daunting and
that's probably going to be alittle discouraging.
(16:53):
Daunting and that's probablygoing to be a little
discouraging.
So I always say run the milethat you're in.
So if you run that mile, youfocus on your breathing, you
focus on your stance, you focuson your pace and you just kind
of move through it and you focuson the mile.
Don't worry about the next mileor don't worry about the next
station, because that's justgoing to distract you and slow
(17:13):
you down from that mile.
So, like, what's your goal forthat particular mile and just
get after it and the next one,and the next one, and the next
one, and then eventually you'regoing to get to 13 miles or
you're going to get to that 10station for a deck race.
So really just focus on themile that you're in.
Stay present, try not to thinkabout anything else, because
(17:34):
sometimes, even for me, my mindwanders.
I'm thinking about the workoutI got to do the next day.
I got to thinking about what Ineed to do for work or for home.
If your mind starts to wander,especially if you're doing a
hard effort workout, like you'renot going to be focused, it's
going to derail you and it'sgoing to be really hard to do
that.
Now, if you're doing aleisurely long run, you've got
(17:56):
eight miles to go and it's azone two pace and you've got
your music on and the sun isshining.
That's one thing.
You still need to focus on yourbreathing.
You still need to focus on yourform and your pace.
But that's a very differentkind of workout than if you're
doing speed work or if you'redoing something that's really,
really challenging.
You need to focus 100% on thatand just kind of run the mile
(18:18):
that you're in.
So that's it.
That's what I wanted to sharewith you kind of the reasons why
to embrace discomfort and thefive ways to embrace discomfort,
and these are things that I do.
I'm sure there's a lot more andI'd love to hear from you.
So if you go into your podcastapp, into the show notes for
Inspired to Run podcast, you'llsee, send a message.
I'd love to hear you know whatare the things that you do to
(18:42):
embrace discomfort and I'd loveto share that here on the show.
So what's next?
What's next for me?
So I've done a couple of racesso far.
I had about 16 races that Isigned up for for this year, so
I have 14 to go, plus I thinkI'll add a couple which I said I
wasn't going to do.
But I think I'm going to do itanyway and I'm really really,
(19:03):
really excited about this year.
I feel like my strengthtraining is going really well.
I feel like I'm building backmy base for my running to get me
ready for the longer races thisyear, and I know what I need to
do for DECA to reach my goalsthere.
So it's the beginning of Marchand I'm really excited about
what I've done so far in thefirst couple of months of the
year.
I hope you're doing well, Ihope your training is going well
(19:26):
and I hope you have asuccessful year.
So with that, thanks again forlistening and have a great day.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
That's it for this episode of Inspired to Run
Podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
Hey, my friend, I'm a little late in dropping this
episode, but I wanted to come onand share a short recap about
my Decker race last weekend,which is always a hard type of
race for me, but it got methinking about how can I embrace
discomfort in my training andmy races to help me perform
better, and I'd like to sharesome of those ways with you.
(00:21):
Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome to Inspire to Run Podcast.
Here you will find inspiration,whether you are looking to take
control of your health andfitness or you are a seasoned
runner looking for community andsome extra motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richardConner.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Hey, my friend, welcome to Inspire to Run
Podcast.
I hope you're doing well andI'm excited to share with you
some of the updates that I'vehad in my races recently.
I'm off to a decent start forthe year, I would say, and I'd
also like to talk about kind ofembracing discomfort in your
training and races.
And this is directly related tothe race I just had and it's
(01:10):
just been something that's beenon my mind for a few days after
that race.
And you know I keep tellingmyself after a DECA race that
it's so uncomfortable but it'sgoing to make me a better runner
.
So I kind of put me, put myselfthrough all of that pain and
discomfort but as an endurancerunner, kind of doing a lot of
the high intensity work andreally moving fast, it's just a
(01:33):
different type of race for me.
It's a different type of racethan I trained for and it just
makes it harder for me to do.
But I do that to get better atmy road races.
So I really started thinkingabout that and wanted to share,
you know, the reasons why I doit, which I talked a little bit
about, why I do Decker races inaddition to my road races, but
also like ways to embrace thatdiscomfort and things that I've
(01:55):
done and maybe that will helpyou kind of in your training and
your races.
But I'll just start off by justgiving a quick recap of this.
So the race that I did was atUnderdog Fitness.
So, as you know, coach Kevin ismy trainer and I've been going
to Underdog for a number ofyears now and he hosted a DECA
Strong Race last weekend and theDECA Strong Race has no running
(02:18):
.
So for a runner that's a littlebit daunting, right, there's no
running in it, but it'sbasically 10 functional fitness
kind of stations, if you will.
So you do lunges and box over,step overs, you have the skier
and air bike and just a numberof those types of stations and
it's something I've beentraining for for quite some time
(02:39):
.
But it's been two years sinceI've run a Decker Strong and
it's been one year since I'verun an entire race all the way
through, because last year I didteams races with a couple of my
teammates, mickey and Chrissy.
So this was the first time thatI did the Strong, first time in
a couple of years, first timethat I ran all the way through
(03:01):
in a long time, and the reasonwhy I did it was to just kind of
see how I was doing at each ofthe stations and just to see how
my fitness progressed, but alsoto see like, where are the
stations that I think I'm prettygood at and confident at and
where are the stations that Ithink I need help, and that's
really going to help me kind ofplan for my training for the
year and also plan my races withmy running mates.
(03:24):
So that's the reason why I didit and the race went okay.
I didn't get a PR like I did inmy road race just a few weeks
ago, so it's okay.
I'm kind of okay with thatbecause as I was going through
the different stations, I reallyfelt comfortable on each of the
stations.
I knew, you know, approximatelywhat my pace was going to be on
(03:46):
a number of the stations.
My technique was okay, kind ofgoing into those stations, and
it kind of fell apart maybeabout 75% of the way through the
race.
I kind of believe I know why orwhat happened kind of at that
point in time.
But out of the 10 stations Ireally kind of fell apart in the
last three.
I just kind of ran out of gasand pushed myself through.
(04:09):
So that was kind of hard.
But I would say, for the firstseven I felt really good about
my pace, I felt really goodabout my technique and I felt
really good about kind of goingthrough all the stations versus
kind of a team's race where youmay split the stations, you may
split the runs and oh, by theway, there was no running, so
(04:29):
there was no break and norunning for me.
So it was just straight up kindof going through those stations
.
So you know, all in all, Ithink it was an okay start to
the year.
I definitely know kind of whereI'm at, I definitely have more
confidence in those stations.
But there's a lot of work thatI need to do to achieve my goal,
which is to qualify for atleast two events at Deco World
(04:53):
Championships this year on topof all the other races that I'm
doing.
So whether I qualify asindividual or qualify for teams,
either way I'm just looking toqualify for at least two of
those races.
So so really kind of lookingforward to that and I have the
whole year to train and I thinkI'm off to a decent start, but
I've got a lot of work to do.
(05:13):
So kind of after that I was.
I kind of took a seat and I wasfeeling bad about myself for
about 10 minutes as a as Ibrought my heart rate back down
and I was starting to reflect onthe race.
But rate back down and I wasstarting to reflect on the race.
But I really started to thinkabout, well, why am I putting
myself through all this tortureif it's not the main race or
sport that I do and I talkedabout this in other episodes as
(05:35):
to why I do DECA.
But I really started thinkingabout one thing about this race
that may be different than otherthings that I do is that it's
very uncomfortable.
It's high intensity, it's workthat I'm not used to.
It's not part of my normaltraining, other than if I'm
doing speed work or things likethat.
So you know it's reallyuncomfortable.
(05:57):
So I started to think about andresearch well, you know, what
are the benefits of beinguncomfortable?
What are the benefits of kindof putting myself through this?
And you know some of the thingsare first is you get greater
confidence.
So kind of going through thesehard races or these hard
workouts.
(06:17):
When you're in it it's reallyhard and sometimes I just want
to quit, but I don't and I stickwith it.
But after you're done, then youget that confidence like, yeah,
I just did that, and even ifyou did it in training, you know
, hopefully that translates intoyour races and where you need
to perform.
But now that you have theconfidence that, hey, I did that
(06:38):
before I could do it again.
So that's the first benefitthat it gives you of kind of
being uncomfortable or embracingdiscomfort.
Next is improved performance.
So, of course, if you're notpushing yourself, you're not
growing.
So you've got to do things thatyour body's not accustomed to.
And yes, it's going to be hard,yes, it's going to be difficult
(07:00):
, yes it's going to hurtsometimes, but those are the
things that are going to helpyou improve your performance.
It's going to help you getfaster times.
It's going to help you bestronger, because you have to go
through those hard things tomake your body stronger and to
get faster.
And if you're not, if you'rejust doing the things that you
normally do and it's easy foryou, you're not really going to
(07:21):
be growing.
So that's another reason whyyou want to embrace discomfort.
And then the next thing isresilience.
So and it's not just resiliencekind of physically for sports
but also resilience in life,right, kind of that mental
resilience.
And the funny thing about thisis I was talking to someone just
(07:43):
a few years ago about my racesand they made a comment to me.
They were like you know what?
I know that if you're trainingthe way you do and you're racing
the way you do and you show upthe way you do in sports, that I
know you're going to do thesame thing here, kind of in the
nine to five right in the office.
And I really thought about thatand it kind of stayed with me
and I'm like, yeah, right,because it's not just me
(08:04):
physically improving andembracing kind of this
discomfort, you know physically,but it's also mentally being
able to do hard things.
So that really has kind ofstayed with me over the years
and I like to think that all thethings that I'm doing, you know
sports wise, is good for mephysically but it also
translates into other parts ofmy life.
(08:25):
So those are just three reasonswhy embracing discomfort is so
important, especially in yourkind of in your races and the
physical activity that you do.
But it's not an easy thing to do.
So whether, again, you're doingyour training, whether you're
in the races.
It's going to be hard, nomatter how much you train, no
(08:48):
matter how much you focus onyour mindset.
It's going to be hard, butthose things are going to help
you push through, those thingsare going to help you perform
better.
Those things are going to helpyou perform better.
So how can you embrace thediscomfort?
Well, the first way to embracediscomfort is to kind of think
about the discomfort as growth.
And I talked about a little bitwhen you're doing those really
(09:11):
hard workouts.
So let's say, I'm doing speedwork on the treadmill.
I used to dread speed work onthe treadmill.
I used to dread speed work onthe treadmill.
I still do.
But when I do them now, I thinkabout it as I'm doing the speed
work on the treadmill or on thetrack or whatever the case is.
I'm doing the speed work to getfaster in my races and I
(09:31):
believe that the better I'mdoing at that speed work, the
better off I'm going to be in myraces.
Same thing with DECA, specifictraining, right, if I'm doing a
hard training with, you know,the skier, or I'm doing burpees
or lunges, whatever the case is,that discomfort in that moment
of time is temporary but it'sgoing to help me with my races,
(09:56):
but it's going to help me withmy races.
So don't think about it as, ohmy goodness, I have to do this
really hard workout.
Think about it as I get to dothis workout and this is what I
need to do to be successful inmy races or whatever it is that
you're looking to do.
Whatever goals and objectivesthat you had and I talk about
races because a lot of my goalsare kind of centered around the
races, but maybe you havesomething different right?
So, whatever those goals are,whatever those objectives are,
(10:18):
think about this is what youneed to do to achieve those
goals and objectives.
Bit about this in a previousepisode.
It was episode 130, five waysto improve confidence and
(10:38):
enhance your runs with positiveself-talk.
And you know I talked about themantras that I use, which has
kind of changed over the years.
So at one point in time,especially when I was going
through half marathon trainingand races, I was using the
mantra I can, I will, I must,and that I had taken from a
motivational speaker and Istarted to use that, you know,
kind of through my own races andI've used other ones kind of
(11:02):
throughout the last few years,but the one that I use most
recently and not in the lastDECA race.
But the race before was noexcuses and that's what I said
to myself just kind of as Istarted the race and as I
progressed.
I was like no excuses and I'lltell you why.
So that particular race was onSuper Bowl Sunday and it
happened to snow here the nightbefore.
(11:24):
So they postponed the race togive the city enough time to
kind of clear the streets, whichthey actually did a relatively
good job, and it's great that itwasn't actually snowing during
the race, but it was before andthey did a good job clearing the
streets.
But there's a lot of racers inthis particular race.
It's a very popular race, localhere, and there's point in
(11:44):
times where there might be alittle snow and ice on the
ground.
There might be areas wherethere's not a lot of room
because there's a lot of racesand maybe because of the snow
pile up on the sides, you'rekind of crammed with a lot of
room because there's a lot ofraces and maybe because of the
snow pile up on the sides, youknow, you're kind of crammed
with a lot of the racers.
And I started to think like howin the world am I going to
achieve a PR on this particularcourse?
If I have these conditionsright, if I'm going to be
(12:06):
bumping into people, if I'mafraid of slipping on the snow
like, and the ground is wet like, how am I going to get a PR?
And all I thought about was Idon't want to get to the end of
this race making a whole bunchof excuses.
So that was kind of my mantraduring that race no excuses, I'm
just going to run this race asfast as I can, as best I can.
(12:26):
I'm going to rely on mytraining, I'm going to focus,
I'm going to try not to slip andfall.
I'm just going to really do thebest I can.
And if there's times I have toslow down, I have to slow down.
If there's times that I canspeed up, I can speed up.
But at the end of the day, noexcuses.
I don't want to look back andsay, well, I could have done
this and I could have done that,I could have done the other
thing.
So that's just the mantra I can, I will, I must, and kind of
(12:57):
more positive mantra.
So, whatever it is, just thinkabout what is it that can help
you stay focused on your raceand help you kind of just kind
of keep moving when things gettough.
The third way to embracediscomfort is train through
tough conditions.
(13:17):
So this one's kind ofinteresting because I
flip-flopped on this a few times.
So what are tough conditions?
So the first thing is youreally never know what you're
going to get on race day,especially if you're running
road races.
You don't know if you're goingto get a really hot day.
You don't know if you're goingto get a really cold day.
You don't know if there's goingto get a really hot day.
You don't know if you're goingto get a really cold day.
(13:38):
You don't know if there's goingto be wind or rain or, like an
example I just gave you, snow.
So you know it's helpful foryou to kind of train in those
conditions, because then you'rekind of accustomed to it.
Because if you haven't trainedin the cold and then you're
going to go out and run in thecold, that's going to be quite
challenging for you, right?
The challenging for you, right,the same thing for the heat.
So that's one thing that youcould do is kind of train for
(13:58):
those tough conditions.
I flip-flopped a little bit, sowhen I was doing a lot more
outdoor running, I would do itkind of through the winter.
Admittedly, I haven't done asmuch of it kind of this winter
because I was really focused ondoing my strength training.
So I would do more kind oftreadmill runs and I would mix
it on doing my strength training.
So I would do more, you know,kind of treadmill runs and I
would mix it in with my strengthtraining.
But as I prepare for my summerraces, I'm going to build in
(14:21):
more and more long runs and getoutdoors and again kind of
prepare for those raceconditions.
And I talked about this as wellon a few episodes that it's
really important for you to kindof train in those conditions in
which you're going to race.
In, the fourth way to embracediscomfort is to incorporate
(14:42):
hard efforts regularly.
So what does that mean?
So if you're, you know, ifyou're running Decker races, you
know hybrid races that could beyou know the workouts that you
do as part of those races, right?
So there's workouts that arekind of centered around the
different stations.
So you could do those.
If you're, you know, runner,road runner, you could do the
(15:02):
speed work, you could do hillworkouts, you could do intervals
.
There's a lot of differentthings that you could do, but
the important thing is is to dothose hard workouts.
Now it doesn't mean if you'retraining five, six days a week
that you're going to have fourto five days of really hard
workouts, right?
So you need those easy runs,you need those longer runs, you
need to be able to kind of mixup your training, but you need
(15:25):
to also incorporate those kindof hard workouts again to help
you to grow, to help you get itfaster, help you get stronger
and prepare for race day.
So typically what I do is, ifI'm running three days a week, I
typically will do one long run,maybe like at a zone two pace.
I'll do a shorter run, that'sprobably between a zone three as
(15:50):
my base and then zone four, andthen I'll do, you know, like
speed work, which is which isgoing to put me like zone four,
zone five, and it's typicallygoing to be faster than my, my
race pace.
So, whatever that looks likefor you, that's something that
you need to consider, to kind ofbuild into your workout.
So, again, if I'm doing threedays a week, at least one of one
(16:11):
of those days, those runningdays, is going to be a hard
workout.
If I'm doing four days a week,then I'll mix it up a little bit
and maybe have one to two daysof you know hard workout or kind
of that medium intensity.
And then the fifth way toembrace discomfort is really
just kind of stay present andfocus on you know what's in
(16:32):
front of you.
So one of the things that I'vereally been focusing on,
especially for the longer races,is, if you're thinking about a
half marathon, let's say, andyou have to run 13 miles, if
you're thinking about the 13miles that are ahead of you, or
the 12, 11, 10 miles, that'sgoing to be really daunting and
that's probably going to be alittle discouraging.
(16:53):
Daunting and that's probablygoing to be a little
discouraging.
So I always say run the milethat you're in.
So if you run that mile, youfocus on your breathing, you
focus on your stance, you focuson your pace and you just kind
of move through it and you focuson the mile.
Don't worry about the next mileor don't worry about the next
station, because that's justgoing to distract you and slow
(17:13):
you down from that mile.
So, like, what's your goal forthat particular mile and just
get after it and the next one,and the next one, and the next
one, and then eventually you'regoing to get to 13 miles or
you're going to get to that 10station for a deck race.
So really just focus on themile that you're in.
Stay present, try not to thinkabout anything else, because
(17:34):
sometimes, even for me, my mindwanders.
I'm thinking about the workoutI got to do the next day.
I got to thinking about what Ineed to do for work or for home.
If your mind starts to wander,especially if you're doing a
hard effort workout, like you'renot going to be focused, it's
going to derail you and it'sgoing to be really hard to do
that.
Now, if you're doing aleisurely long run, you've got
(17:56):
eight miles to go and it's azone two pace and you've got
your music on and the sun isshining.
That's one thing.
You still need to focus on yourbreathing.
You still need to focus on yourform and your pace.
But that's a very differentkind of workout than if you're
doing speed work or if you'redoing something that's really,
really challenging.
You need to focus 100% on thatand just kind of run the mile
(18:18):
that you're in.
So that's it.
That's what I wanted to sharewith you kind of the reasons why
to embrace discomfort and thefive ways to embrace discomfort,
and these are things that I do.
I'm sure there's a lot more andI'd love to hear from you.
So if you go into your podcastapp, into the show notes for
Inspired to Run podcast, you'llsee, send a message.
I'd love to hear you know whatare the things that you do to
(18:42):
embrace discomfort and I'd loveto share that here on the show.
So what's next?
What's next for me?
So I've done a couple of racesso far.
I had about 16 races that Isigned up for for this year, so
I have 14 to go, plus I thinkI'll add a couple which I said I
wasn't going to do.
But I think I'm going to do itanyway and I'm really really,
(19:03):
really excited about this year.
I feel like my strengthtraining is going really well.
I feel like I'm building backmy base for my running to get me
ready for the longer races thisyear, and I know what I need to
do for DECA to reach my goalsthere.
So it's the beginning of Marchand I'm really excited about
what I've done so far in thefirst couple of months of the
year.
I hope you're doing well, Ihope your training is going well
(19:26):
and I hope you have asuccessful year.
So with that, thanks again forlistening and have a great day.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
That's it for this episode of Inspired to Run
Podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
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