STEP 1: SET A GOAL AND ASK WHY

You wouldn’t just get in a car and drive aimlessly without a destination in mind so why waste time doing that with running? The first thing you need to do is set a target. If you are currently at point A, lets say 4 hour marathon PB, what does point B look like? Is it 3 hours. Get clarity on this before going any further.

Once the target is set, the next question is why what you’ve set the target? Peel back the layers of the onion, and don’t just take it at surface level. What is the story beneath the story? When things get tough, the stronger you are here the more likely it is that you will overcome the inevitable obstacles.

What is your why that is going to get the fire burning? Are you running to make your family proud? To overcome bad past experiences? For a particular person or cause? If you can get to the heart of these, rather than just give a generic vanilla answer, you’ll be in the best possible place to get started

STEP 2: DON’T BE A LONE RANGER

Trying to do anything meaningful by yourself is a million times harder and will likely takes a heck of a lot of time longer than if you are able to leverage the support of others. Making the most of support, accountability, or specific knowledge, are all things that outsiders can bring.

Who can you bring into your world to put the pieces together to help you work towards the target set in step 1? Running buddies, clubmates, family, coaches or mentors? Not only will all these people be able to help, they will also make the journey so much more enjoyable than if you were to ride solo

STEP 3: MAKING 7/10 THE NEW PERFECT

If you set yourself a big goal, I won’t BS you, you are going to have to show up and put the work in. There will be the days where you feel incredible, where everything is effortless (10/10 rating). There will also be days where you feel terrible and the body simply does not want to know (1/10 rating). These are the extremes and generally NOT where things are won and lost.

Being able to grind out 7/10s on the days where you are NOT feeling great is the skill to master. As mentioned in step 1, connecting with the ‘why’ of the goal will help you on days like these. Adopting a mindset of 7/10 all the way through your training, if you do that then the consistency this will create will leave you ready to go to hit that target.

For more running advice and inspiration from John, please like and follow the Move Better Run Better Facebook page