Those that know me, will know that I’m an avid runner - last year I completed my first pair of marathons, and I had been intending to do more this year until the Coronavirus crisis. People who have known me a little longer however, will know there was a time where the idea of me even running a couple of kilometers would have been laughable. I want to take a moment to talk about some of the lessons I’ve learned over years and kilometers.

Running at 10,000 Under The Edge (Credit Sarah Clough)

Starting is the hardest part

Especially because you’ll do it more than once.

When I first started running and trying to get fitter, I don’t think I had a real comprehension of the timescales involved. I gave up, then tried again, and gave up again. Over and over along the years, til it finally clicked. Most things in life can be completed in a few hours - maybe a few days for something knotty. The human body is much slower to respond. It takes many, many weeks of the same thing to see change. When this is happening unconsciously it’s easy to not really notice, to “wake up” to reality at the end, the midlife crisis of waking up and realising a beer gut has appeared.

But when you’re fighting what’s comfortable, it’s different. Your body is wired by generations of survival to tell you to conserve your energy and eat whatever you can get your hands on - especially if it’s sweet or fatty. So if you haven’t grown up with an active lifestyle, you’ve got to break out of the routine of doing exactly that.

Push vs Pull

You’ve got two factors at play when you’re trying to will yourself through something that isn’t comfortable. The pull, is the stuff you’re aiming for - to get a few extra years, a few less pounds, or a few more reps. The push is your own personal drive - that ability to grit your teeth and do the unpleasant thing, because it’s the right thing. What I’ve found is that push will give out, eventually. Everyone has a breaking point - some people can do more, some less. But eventually it’ll give. Getting your gear on will feel like torture. Every footfall will shove the air out of your lungs. The weather will never be quite right.

The bridge between the push and the pull is forming habits. It takes about 6 weeks to get something drummed in as a habit rather than an exception. Once you get there, even if you don’t necessarily feel like going for a run, not putting your gear on will just feel weird. Maybe you’ll give yourself an easy day, but you’ll still get it done. Once the habit is in, the pull becomes much more inviting. You can see progress toward your goals easier when you’re not focused on the moment-to-moment things you’re having to do to achieve it.

You’re never done

Relating back to software development - especially SaaS products - there is a key concept that tends to exist of never being finished. There are always more features to add, more bugs to squash, more tweaks and enhancements. The same is true, I think, of fitness. A lot of people will establish things like a goal weight - with the expectation that they can go back to doing what they did before once they hit it. The problem with this, is that your fitness is a reflection of your habits. In the same way one doughnut won’t make you unhealthy, nor will one week of running make you fit.

In this sense - both in software and in fitness - it’s important to establish a routine that you are comfortable with, and can maintain for the foreseeable future. Pushing yourself for short periods can be done (see what I was saying above about push vs pull), but the key to real progress is to bed in habits that start to feel as easy as breathing. I’m far from perfect every day, but I’m consistently working to keep myself fit and healthy.

There are no shortcuts

People sometimes ask me about how to get into running. I usually point to resources such as Couch to 5k, advise that they make sure they’re wearing some decent trainers, and to take it easy at the start. But none of that is as important as the act of just beginning. Just doing the first run. And then once you’ve done that, doing it again. And again. And again until either you stop, or you could never live without it. And I promise - you can do the thing. Running has one of the lowest bars of entry of any fitness activity. Sure races can cost money, and if you want to start buying the latest watches or shoes you can run a hell of a bill. But nothing is standing between you and the pavement outside of your door. You lace up, put on something comfortable, and do the work.