Running Resolutions

We start this year's podcast series by discussing the most popular topic of January and least popular topic of February - New Year's resolutions.

Should we make them? Are they good or bad for us? How do we set ourselves up for success? (Is this podcast a New Year's resolution we took too far...?)

In for 2024: Listening to Cheeky Run Club
Out for 2024: Silent Discos (hopefully) and not sticking to your New Year's running resolutions

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheekyrunclub/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cheekyrunclub
Phoebe's Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/38116199
Anna's Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/38585924 

Music produced by Hugh Raper
Logo design by Michael Cotellessa 

Transcript

Anna: 0:01

I'm Anna, and we want to welcome you to episode one, of Cheeky Run Club

PP: 0:06

Run Club. Cheeky Run Club is a social running podcast that is giving running a much needed rebrand. every episode we're going to be diving into a topic that keeps amateur runners up at night.

Anna: 0:18

so welcome to the unofficial meeting place for your everyday runner.

PP: 0:22

up. Cheeky Run Club!

Anna: 0:33

Hello and welcome to Cheeky Run Club episode one, Phoebe, how are you going today?

PP: 0:39

I'm good, thanks Anna. How are you?

Anna: 0:40

I'm good. Now, today we're going to be talking about running news resolutions, before we do get into that though,

PP: 0:47

Each

Anna: 0:48

going to do a little segment, to kick things off. And so, Phoebe, for the first time ever, can you please give me your worst run of the week and your best run of the

PP: 0:59

week. Yeah. So the purpose of this intro segment is we're going to try and give a balanced, view on running. so we're not just here to talk about all the highlights and all the things that we love about running. We're also going to talk about the things that make running really hard. Alright,

Anna: 1:11

All right, I can get into my run of the week, if you like, top of mind. So unfortunately, there were actually a couple of options for worst run week. I, uh, have had a little setback, a few little setbacks during the silly season. So I haven't really been running as much as I would like Okay, so my worst run of the week was the session, the sort of like harder run that I tried to do on Thursday, where each minute of the run felt like an eternity. Didn't matter if I was going slow, trying to go a little bit faster, slow again. It just, it was, it was just a grind anyway. So good to get it done. Cause I always think surely that means that you're one run closer to feeling a little bit better.

PP: 1:58

you, you want to give some context as to what your silly season

Anna: 2:02

to your silly season setback was?

PP: 2:05

I said, we're giving, there's

Anna: 2:06

giving,

PP: 2:07

high transparency here.

Anna: 2:09

transparency. So, um, I, unfortunately, uh, a few weeks before Christmas got COVID. which was then followed by a bout of gastro. Which was all cleared by Christmas day, and then on Christmas day, my brother and my sister in law's dog, Reggie,

PP: 2:27

off

Anna: 2:27

pulled me off a couch and I unfortunately cracked one of my ribs. So, yeah, running was sort of quite low on the agenda, but I'm back and I'm healthy and I've had three things go wrong, so surely that means I am set, yeah, the rest of year I'm

PP: 2:45

I can feel it.

Anna: 2:47

how about you? What was your worst run of the

PP: 2:48

worst one of the week? I do have a worse run of the week. and it was my Sunday afternoon run. Um, yeah. Yeah, we were in Lawn for the weekend doing Peter Pop, which was so much fun. And I was really putting off doing my, final, just easy run of the week. waited till I drove back to Melbourne, and then it was kind of like the middle of the day Sunday, and I knew I just needed to, Stop procrastinating and get done.

Anna: 3:16

It was warm Sunday.

PP: 3:17

it was warm. Well, that was a problem. It was hot and dry and

Anna: 3:21

windy. And

PP: 3:22

And I don't like dry. I like humidity. As you know, I like to be sweaty when I run. And it just felt like dry and it was just a grind. It was just like I was running by myself. I didn't, I probably should have put headphones in or something. And I just, It was just one of those runs that you just like getting really, and I didn't even, like, feel good off it, so I was just like,

Anna: 3:44

So

PP: 3:45

although, actually, the good thing was I did some strides at the end, a couple of little efforts up a hill to test how my hip was

Anna: 3:52

was feeling. So yeah,

PP: 3:56

not all bad, really,

Anna: 3:57

all bad.

PP: 4:01

Oh, best run of the week, can I give one from this morning?

Anna: 4:05

Yeah,

PP: 4:06

This is of, yeah, we make the rules, so.

Anna: 4:09

I don't think there's any rules in this program.

PP: 4:14

this morning I went for a run with Edo. one of, this is one of our running friends. haven't caught up with him for a few weeks since before Christmas. we've both been interstate. And it was a, did you run this, did you run this

Anna: 4:27

I did,

PP: 4:28

Yeah, it was a nice

Anna: 4:30

a

PP: 4:30

was a really nice morning. It was just beautiful sunrise, very still. It was really warm. And yeah, we just ran along the river, and lovely. was really good. Yeah, big turnaround from the day before. Big

Anna: 4:43

Big turn around in less than 24 hours. and my best run of the week was definitely Saturday. I went out for a bit of a longer jog with some friends and it's sort of the first longer run I've done in a little while. And it was fun with just like jogging along with friends. we did a loop that I haven't done before. So anyone that's in Melbourne, it's called, I think people call it a half cap city loop. So you kind of go down. It's not the nicest part of Cap City when

PP: 5:24

weekend. It's not the nicest part of Cap

Anna: 5:27

I mean,

PP: 5:29

mean I

Anna: 5:30

from an unexperienced cap city runner, I'm, I probably would suggest going the other way you're going to do a half on, but, a shout out to the girls there, they,

PP: 5:42

girls

Anna: 5:42

they wanted to do this bit and yeah, it was still really nice. Still the highlight of the

PP: 5:47

was still really nice. Still So our main topic today is talking about running resolutions, which is obviously very topical for this time of year.

Anna: 5:56

we know that most people, including ourselves, like to set some news resolutions or some goals for the following year. now this can be sort of like fitness based, work based, in your personal life, whatever. but I know that a lot of people, set fitness

PP: 6:13

It's the most common news resolution is get fit.

Anna: 6:17

Get fit.

PP: 6:17

Yeah, or lose get fit or lose weight, I It was like, uh, slash, yeah. And we've both done a little bit of reading as to some different ways to go about setting some of these goals and best practice, if you will. so we're going to talk through some of that. We're going to talk through our own running related goals that listeners can hold us accountable to. And then we're going to also going to also, yeah, give some of our friends a call, who are at various stages in their running journey. and hear about their running goals, and then, you know, throughout the year we can kind of keep them, keep them accountable.

Anna: 6:53

So what have you been reading about goal setting?

PP: 6:57

Goal setting. Well yeah, a tale as old as time that people set goals and then don't achieve them, forget about them, years resolutions are fraught for that reason. And I think a lot of people have almost given up on setting goals, just years of never doing

Anna: 7:13

do you think

PP: 7:15

Well Great question. So, Anna and I have been trying to do a little bit of reading to understand this construct a little bit better of setting resolutions and setting goals so that we can set better goals for ourselves and so that we can help, help the listeners set better goals

Anna: 7:31

we help, help the listeners set better goals as well. Whatever, a bit of faff. But, yeah, doing a bit of research has made me realize that I do not think about the things that I need to think about when setting a news resolution. Which is probably why I've never stuck to one.

PP: 7:59

Yeah. Are you, do you usually set news

Anna: 8:02

I feel like I do, but I feel like it's actually probably by this time in January that forgotten about it. yeah, yeah. Yeah, I

PP: 8:09

Yeah, I went, I used to go really hard in setting them and then I kind of went off it for a while I, you just never stick to them and then I'd feel like a failure and I started doing the Word of the Year.

Anna: 8:18

started

PP: 8:19

I love doing.

Anna: 8:20

which I love

PP: 8:21

Have I not made you do a Word of the Year before? You must be my only friend who has me. Forcing them to do a Word of the Year. It's

Anna: 8:28

Maybe because I was in bed with Gastro when you were doing Word of the Year with everyone.

PP: 8:32

That's true. It's basically, The idea is, it's like an anti goal, it's a case against goal setting, which we're about to a case for goal setting, so, but it's basically saying instead of setting all these goals and then like forgetting them and people set way too many and they never stick to them and they're not accountable, you can just set a word that describes an intention for the year and it's something you want to move towards or something that you want to embody and so, um, Like when I first moved to Melbourne, I made my word of year, yes, like, yes, with an exclamation mark, because I was trying to like, really push myself to like, meet new people and do new things lean into my new job and make new friends and everything and so all year I tried to be like, okay, you got to say yes, you got to put yourself out there yeah, yeah, so, but the problem with that is, it's, It's not very specific, and you never really know if you've achieved it or not, I suppose. and so for running, I mean, you could have one word of the year for running. I don't know. That might, that might be, I can put you on the spot, get you to set a word of the year for running. But we were going

Anna: 9:37

the year for

PP: 9:38

Pain free? Oh, you didn't even need to think about it. Painless.

Anna: 9:43

Painless, painless. Um, yeah, I reckon. Yep.

PP: 9:49

Um, we're going to talk through a couple of frameworks that we read about that will hopefully help set some more useful goals. So I was reading about identity based goals, and I don't know who came up with this concept, but someone who writes about it a lot is James Clear, who's the author of Atomic Habits, which might be like the most referenced book in a podcast. Bye. Bye. it's about how to set, how to change your behavior basically through changing your habits. And so he actually is, is not like a big fan of, he basically talks about, you can set goals at three different levels. the outermost level, if you imagine it as like three concentric circles, the outermost level would be, outcomes. So outcome goals would be like. Maybe lose weight, or like, get this job, or, run, run a marathon, or run a PB for, uh,

Anna: 10:46

5k or

PP: 10:47

or something like that. and he says that's the kind of surface level that most people use. They set a goal there and they don't think about anything else. The one layer in from that is processes and this is looking at changing your habits and systems. So you can think of these as what are the inputs you need to achieve that kind of outcome. So it might be like, um, I'm gonna run three times a week or something like that. And that's like a slightly deeper.

Anna: 11:12

deeper, deeper

PP: 11:13

deeper level of goal setting. there's a quote. That is, that my boss likes to say to me, which is you don't rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your system. So you can set a big goal, but then you need a system that sits beneath it. But then the final, the very core of this circle is identity. It's the deepest layer. And these are your beliefs and your perceptions about yourself and others. And I think this is a really interesting one for running because. Something we talk about a lot is a lot of people don't really identify as a runner. Or even people who run heaps and love running, Or who, like, just run a bit and don't like running that much. They, like, no one really thinks of themselves as a runner unless they're literally, like, an elite runner.

Anna: 11:56

Yeah. Even though there's actually no real definition of

PP: 11:58

of a Yeah. Yeah, we can Yeah. Exactly. would say that anyone

Anna: 12:03

I would say that anyone that, like, puts one foot in front of the other is a runner. Just

PP: 12:07

She's on the record.

Anna: 12:09

I'm setting the straight. If one foot in

PP: 12:13

yeah. At, at, at, what's the technical definition of running not walking? Like you have only one foot on the ground at once or

Anna: 12:20

Yeah, so

PP: 12:21

You have to be in the

Anna: 12:22

you have, you get some air time.

PP: 12:24

Air time.

Anna: 12:24

One foot in the, in front of the other with a little bit of air

PP: 12:28

air time. Yeah. If

Anna: 12:29

If you do that,

PP: 12:30

You're a runner. Heard it here first. Okay. Well, yeah, so basically, and so yeah, that's the final layer is like identity. And this is quite an interesting one. I think when setting running goals to think about like what kind of attitude do you have towards it? Okay. Here's an example. So like, I was thinking about this for myself. I was interrogating my belief system. I don't think I identify as someone who. does strength work. And because I don't know, I don't go to the gym, I don't know, I would have no idea what to do in the gym. I would feel so out of place. I don't know how to like work on strength apart from like a few little exercises that my physio gave me or like

Anna: 13:12

going to really.

PP: 13:14

and yeah, so I feel like for me, that concept of who I am holds me back from trying to do some of the strength things that I probably need to be doing alongside my running. Yeah.

Anna: 13:26

almost like you don't identify with being,

PP: 13:28

like. Someone

Anna: 13:29

uh, like

PP: 13:29

the gym. Someone who goes

Anna: 13:30

who goes the gym. So it's sort of too intimidating So it's in the too hard basket.

PP: 13:35

the same as someone who would say they don't identify as being a runner. It just holds you back from running. Cause you're Oh, I'm not someone who does that. Or, and they're just these beliefs that we hold

Anna: 13:44

and does it. And

PP: 13:45

Exactly.

Anna: 13:46

beliefs that hold you back. Really?

PP: 13:48

Yeah. Yeah. Or, or maybe, yeah, just to challenge that Um,

Anna: 14:06

Yeah, I mean, I would sort of, I guess like I don't really identify as sort of a like serious runner in the sense, even though I love running and would do it every day. so then I feel like. I kind of have no excuse to, I don't know, maybe it's that or maybe it's just I'm bad at saying no, but I feel like I don't really have an excuse to Sometimes like not do a million social things or like stay out as late as everyone else because I'm like, Oh, well, it's not as I'm good, like, I like that good. I'll just, I like running, but it's like, yeah, maybe if I was just like, Oh, well, it doesn't really, it doesn't really matter if I want to go for a run tomorrow, then go home.

PP: 14:48

If you're going to feel better and enjoy

Anna: 14:49

Yeah, like it doesn't matter if I'm the slowest person running around the 10 or

PP: 14:54

Yeah.

Anna: 14:55

Olympics. If that's what you want to do, it.

PP: 14:57

that's such a good insight. Cause that belief about yourself as a casual runner. Shouldn't, hold you back from trying to do things that will make you enjoy running more. Yeah.

Anna: 15:07

or do things

PP: 15:07

things

Anna: 15:08

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

PP: 15:11

Interesting. Yeah.

Anna: 15:12

So I, came across a woman called Katie Milkman. I don't know if you've heard of her. So she's an American economist. she's a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and, is the co founder and co director of a research center called Behavior Change for Good Initiative. Also has written a few books. Anyway, so their main takeaway from their research that they found to change your behavior in order to achieve a goal is that you have to find a way to enjoy the process. because if you do that, then you're more likely to achieve the goal. so yeah, so like for instance, I was thinking about it myself and I was like, Oh, I want to get as fit as possible by March. It may be instinctive for me to do like the hardest, most gruelling workouts in the first week. however, maybe if I opted for like a process that focuses on the fun, for instance, instead of doing those like gruelling workouts, go for a slow jog with friends a few times a week, even though the progress initially may not be as steep. they have actually found that if you do that sort of option B, you're more likely to stick with your goal. And inevitably have a higher chance of achieving your goal in the longterm. so it's almost like something that you don't do as a knee jerk reaction to be like, Oh, well, I want that then. So I've got to like hustle really hard now. Maybe it's like taking a step back and being like, okay, that's where I want to get to. I understand that it will take those like full

PP: 16:42

full

Anna: 16:43

12 weeks, hell, oh no, eight weeks until March, eight weeks. but yeah, sort of like. that sort of gradual progress rather than going

PP: 16:52

all the way.

Anna: 16:52

guns blazing just like falling

PP: 16:54

yeah. That's such a massive one with running, I feel, is even just that asking yourself that question of how can I make this enjoyable? I feel like so much of the time, and this is me for so long with running, I just thought it was about Getting as fit as every run and so it was just about going out

Anna: 17:14

there, sprinting

PP: 17:15

for 6Ks or whatever and then being so wrecked afterwards. And there's, don't get me wrong, sometimes that's quite fun and that's therapeutic almost. But it's so hard to, on the days where you don't want to do it, it's so hard to motivate yourself to

Anna: 17:29

up. Oh, hundred percent, yeah. so, yeah, the consistency. Um, another, another bit of research that she, she calls it like temptation bundling. that's like linking something you love or something you crave with a behavior that's good for you. Um, the long run to like create a hook, I guess. So for instance, I might make it so like I,

PP: 17:51

I

Anna: 17:52

am only going to listen to my favorite podcast when I go for a jog or I go to the gym. So that kind of means that so you then you've got that like hook to sort of get out the door or get into the gym. Um, and then there's sort of that like instant.

PP: 18:06

instant

Anna: 18:07

um, a reward of being like, yeah, I get to listen to my favorite

PP: 18:10

listen another good one there, with the examples you were giving before about like, what did you call it, stacking, uh,

Anna: 18:17

it, stacking, uh,

PP: 18:18

Temptation

Anna: 18:19

bundling. I actually love them. I why. I'm like, hmm. Yeah,

PP: 18:23

I, I mean, that could apply to so many different areas of my life, I feel, but I reckon a good one for running is when my alarm goes off, like, I don't run straight away when I get out of bed, I'll like, get up and have a piece of toast or some say o's and do some Say o's? Do people in Victoria not know what say o's are? Some people at Hunter did know what they

Anna: 18:43

not know what sayur is? They're

PP: 18:51

they're like crackers. Like a square like that. And, you probably would have

Anna: 18:55

wouldn't have seen

PP: 18:56

No, no. But they're kind of like Sarkozy, but maybe less salty. No, yeah, they're less, they're like, they're like a square cracker. Very plain. But delicious with some Vegemite and on them like so good and they come in like a white packer with red You would have seen,

Anna: 19:14

white, purple, red You would've said

PP: 19:19

what's

Anna: 19:20

were raised on Say O's.

PP: 19:25

cannot tell you we Sayos It's like every lunchbox in my entire life had Vegemite Sayos in Yeah, I reckon in Queensland they're a way bigger

Anna: 19:34

Yeah, okay. Yeah. Anyway, sorry. Um,

PP: 19:37

that's a really important segway. that's fine. But yeah, I'll get up in the morning and like, I'm not even thinking about run. I'm thinking about my Vegemite and sometimes very small cup of tea just to like really get me excited because like the, the barrier to like getting up to do that is so

Anna: 19:53

that is

PP: 19:54

Small. Yeah. Or like

Anna: 19:56

Whereas get for the run, it's a lot Yeah,

PP: 19:58

Sometimes, when I'm trying to wake Sean, my boyfriend up for a run. Yeah. He's notoriously so hard to wake up and I've found a trick, which is I'm making toast, I'll make a toast, piece of toast for him as well. And I'll literally just like put it next to his head and he'll like. Wake up and just instantly start and then he's awake

Anna: 20:17

I actually think that's not a bad I like

PP: 20:21

in front of his face and then he's up, you know, he's had like

Anna: 20:24

like It's forced temptation bundling. It is a

PP: 20:28

These are good

Anna: 20:29

Nah, I like that. Another Just like, another like, concepts in order to kind of make your, um, news resolution or goal maybe a little bit more achievable is to, throw diversity at your goal. So it's like kind of working on, like, acknowledging that there are different areas that sort of, um, need to be, like, ticked off or need

PP: 20:48

some attention

Anna: 20:49

order to achieve your goal. So, like, for instance

PP: 20:52

for

Anna: 20:53

I'm super motivated for running because I just bloody love it. So specifically for me, finding more motivation isn't actually going to me like reach my goals. Whereas like if we're talking about like not getting injured or like making it to the start line of a race or just, yeah, as my word of the. Yeah. For running painless. Like something that I find challenging is like recovering and finding time to actually like have some downtime. So in turn, I'm probably like not really recovering that well, which would increase my chance of interesting. So I don't know. I feel like you maybe just have to like kind of check yourself and like acknowledge your own personal barriers that may hinder

PP: 21:35

hinder your life goals,

Anna: 21:37

of you like ultimately achieving those

PP: 21:40

your word of the year should be no. No. No,

Anna: 21:44

No.

PP: 21:44

thumbs down.

Anna: 21:45

Bye bye. You're like, why haven't you left the house in five days? I'm nah. Okay, so with

PP: 21:50

Yeah. Um, okay, so with all this in mind, Do you have any idea of like, what your running goal would actually be? Or like, yeah, running resolution would be.

Anna: 22:00

running resolution for the year, uh, would be to, for all the races I,

PP: 22:08

enter, get to

Anna: 22:10

the start line.

PP: 22:11

is such a good one. Yeah.

Anna: 22:13

so I dunno, who knows what that will look like. It might be two or three fun runs or it may be more, but yeah, I'd like to, for every race that I enter, I'd like to get. To the start line.

PP: 22:23

line. Yeah.

Anna: 22:24

cause history, history says it's normally like a one in three, one in four chance of getting to the start line, but that's all

PP: 22:32

mine would not be that much better, especially over the last two years. I just And even the races that I have gotten to the start line, sometimes I'm just jogging them because I'm injured and I can't

Anna: 22:44

has happened. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Same.

PP: 22:46

I

Anna: 22:47

you think that is? like why? Don't you get to the start line, which may in turn mean that, like, why haven't your, like, goals previously

PP: 22:59

goals

Anna: 22:59

worked? Worked? Why haven't you achieved? Yeah. I think, uh, getting

PP: 23:07

Getting injured, which, if you ask my physio, weak glutes.

Anna: 23:12

glutes? think that's, I

PP: 23:14

back. I

Anna: 23:15

I reckon every runner that goes to a physio is like, you're injured because of

PP: 23:19

I would actually love to meet a runner who has been told they have really strong and they're not getting injured because of it. Do they exist? We'll get them on the podcast. hear their stories.

Anna: 23:30

do you do?

PP: 23:30

yeah, so maybe glutes is

Anna: 23:32

Yeah, maybe they walk places like in the crab walk

PP: 23:35

Well, you know what else is interesting, actually? A different way of, reflecting on why I haven't gotten to the start line is, actually the runs where I have gotten to the start line and felt good and, what was different there. Because I feel like the runs that I have During COVID and lockdown, I was racing so much more and feeling so better. And I think that's probably something a lot of runners see because a lot of people who even picked up running in lockdown, because you had so much rest and recovery time and you're sleeping really well. And I think that.

Anna: 24:07

there's a saying,

PP: 24:09

There's a saying, which is probably a really bad saying, which is there's no such thing as overtraining, just under recovering.

Anna: 24:15

recovering. Um,

PP: 24:16

toxic in its own way. But I think there's an element of truth to it, and I think that I'm just not very good at recovering. well as, obviously, the strength stuff that

Anna: 24:24

well as, strength stuff.

PP: 24:26

Yeah, I would say I feel like the real story of this podcast this year is going to be do Phoebe and Anna get to Berlin

Anna: 24:33

to Yeah, yeah, so we've both, got an entry into Berlin Marathon. Phoebe, because she got the qualifying time. Myself, because I'm, got a charity spot. So, we'll be raising funds for the MS Society, So I feel like, yeah, we'll both be aiming for that start line

PP: 24:52

That's

Anna: 24:52

because I feel like if like the race is the easy bit, it's getting to the start line that seems to be difficult for me.

PP: 24:57

to the start line, fit, and feeling good. And I did that, I I mean, I say this now, this may not be true, but right now I do not care how I go in the race. Just if I get there and feel good, I'll be so proud of myself.

Anna: 25:10

there and feel good, I'll be so proud of so we've chosen a couple of people who all have different sort of like spots on their running journeys So yeah, it'll be good to see what their goals for the year honest.

PP: 25:37

Live.

Anna: 25:49

one. Wow. Lucky me. I'm a little cheeky. Um, so what is your running goal for this year? Um. Um. Well, I, previously I've probably only run a handful of times a year. I'd say like two to three times a year, not very much. So never run consistently before. So My goal is to run 10 kilometers by the end of the year. I would, um, like to do a wellness run. It's in December, which is, um, supported by Beyond Blue, which is a cause very close to my heart. Nice. And then, so how are you going to achieve that goal? Yeah, so, um, I'm very lucky. My partner enjoys running, so he's been a very good trainer and running buddy to keep me motivated and tell me when I need to push harder or slow it down. So, uh, I've done four runs this year. So I need to do, um, two or three a week. Um, so starting off slow and steady. And just building up longer distance as I go. I mean, but talk to me in winter, I'll probably, uh it's just been a bit of a learning curve. So my first run, my body was sore the next day. Um, but by the time I did my third run, um, my body's feeling a million dollars, which is great.

PP: 27:05

dollars, which

Anna: 27:06

And so already feeling a. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. All right. Well, thank you and yeah, we'll check in with you soon. Thanks my little friend. cheeky girl. Bye. Bye. Hello, Melanie. How are you going? I'm well, and yourself? good. Are you ready to answer the question? Oh yeah, yeah. Okay. so what is your main running goal for the year?

PP: 27:44

Sure.

Anna: 27:44

Sure. Um, so the context for my goal is that I've been injured for quite some time now. So my aim this year is to essentially enjoy running without pain and gradually increase my mileage to get to around 60 kilometers a week, just with a mix of easy run, speed work and long run.

PP: 28:02

going to

Anna: 28:03

And the way I'm going to do that. is to consistently see my physio and follow the guidance from him. Um, and do my strength training twice a week, and just slowly increase the mileage and try not to go.

PP: 28:18

go too

Anna: 28:19

Too much too soon. Yeah. And how do you make sure that you're like going to do the strength and stuff? Do Um, I'd love to be going with a friend, that's obviously always ideal, but I make sure that my gym's just down the road, I can walk there, so it's super convenient. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Um, nice. All right. Well, if you're happy to, we might contact you, um, yeah, just do a few little check ins throughout the year just to see how you're tracking with your goal.

PP: 28:46

with your

Anna: 28:47

Sounds good, you'll keep me accountable. Yes, I will be checking your gym attendance.

PP: 28:52

checking your gym attendance.

Anna: 28:53

Um, alright, thanks so much Mel.

PP: 28:55

Thanks, Mel. Bye, Anna, exciting, guys. First podcast.

Anna: 29:11

Episode 1. Are

PP: 29:14

Are you really? Oh yeah.

Anna: 29:16

Big time. Big

PP: 29:19

time. Hence why you're getting the call off. Um, no, as I warned you on our run this morning, we're going to call around some of our friends and ask them if they have any running goals for this year. Sounds like you're reading off a script. I'm actually So that's not a good sign. Yeah. Hello, Ayrton.

Anna: 29:38

sign. Hello, Ayrton.

PP: 29:40

Um, yeah, do you have any running goals for this year, Ayrto? Uh, I do, as a matter of fact. I would love to run a fast marathon, uh, in Melbourne in October. And it could be my last fast ever marathon, Phoebe. Your last? That's ominous. It could be. I think if I can go close to 250, I reckon that's about as fast as I can go. And then I can hang up the speed runners or hang up the beta flyers and be a happy man. Do you think you'll, you'll max out at 250?

Anna: 30:07

I think

PP: 30:09

Uh, I think so. I think the, like, Uh, reward for effort, or it'll be like a diminishing return thing. Like, maybe I could go faster, but the amount of work I'd have to put in to get there, I, I think I'd probably lose enjoyment of running if I pushed myself beyond that. And what's your running, what's your PB at the moment? Uh, 2. 55 and 12 seconds. Um, and so what will you do differently this year to beat your previous time? Um, very good question. Well, I think I've probably got a bit of a better base. So that helps. I think I will probably do more running at a faster pace, like I'll probably push my threshold runs a little bit quicker to try and drive down my pace. Um, and I mean, I think that's probably it, to be honest. Uh, I think like if I can stay fit and healthy with a good sort of 9 to 10 months lead time, like my sort of mileage won't be an issue. I think it'll just be really forcing myself to run a little bit quicker, um, and try and yeah, bring down that average pace. And do you foresee any challenges or roadblocks? Challenges I have a beautiful, uh, three and a half month old. So, I wouldn't necessarily put him under a challenge or roadblock, um, category. But, let's say a diversion of effort. Um, I can foresee that potentially derailing. Some of my running this year. And if that is the case, so be it. I am, I'm happy for that to be the case, but I feel like I can manage both. Um, okay. Well, just so you know, I'll be calling, we'll be calling you. Um, and you can use it randomly throughout the year to check in on your goals and very, very much and I appreciate podcasts like

Anna: 31:57

the year to

PP: 31:58

All right, see you Edo, thanks for that. Thank you very much. Bye.

Anna: 32:03

be

PP: 32:04

a, um, I guess they us, then, you know,

Anna: 32:10

Yeah, also good to give people sort of a, um, Like, if they tell us, then, you know, it's like, it's brave, but it's also a good way to sort of make

PP: 32:19

will be checking

Anna: 32:20

maybe we'll be checking in?

PP: 32:22

Maybe we will. I like where that's going. Yeah. What if, if you, of everyone who submits a goal, of which I'm sure there'll

Anna: 32:30

I'm sure Hundreds. Thousands, perhaps. We'll try to get back

PP: 32:34

definitely both our mums, um, um, and we'll pick a few of them and we'll Get your contact details. Um, and we'll just give you a call every now and then. And we'll check in on you. We'll hold you accountable. we might even put it on the podcast. We'll see how

Anna: 32:51

the podcast. We'll see how We'll see how many people reach out.

PP: 32:56

this next segment, we're going to do every week, it's called weekly weapon. And as part of one of the goals of this podcast is to spotlight amateur runners, people that we probably don't hear about so much, but. Who are just as inspiring as, as every other runner. And so each week we're going to tell the story of someone who inspires us, or who we're grateful for, and just kind of tell the stories of the amateur running community.

Anna: 33:19

we're grateful for and just kind of tell stories of the amateur running community. 10k half or marathon and getting to the finish line just before the cutoff. that the like event finishes because that's just as hard for them as running really, really fast for the professionals And also a lot of the time they're probably juggling more in the background, like families.

PP: 33:54

of more relatable in

Anna: 33:56

Yeah, I agree, agree. So yeah, we want to, want to shine a light that have inspired us each week.

PP: 34:03

Yeah, and we've got an absolute cracker to kick us off.

Anna: 34:06

To kick us off. So our weekly weapon of episode one is Jenna Fulton, um

PP: 34:14

Full

Anna: 34:14

Full name

PP: 34:15

Find her on

Anna: 34:16

Look her up. So Jenna has moved to Melbourne from the Gold Coast and in the middle of last year So it's only really been here for sort of six months I have luckily, I'm lucky enough to have known her for a little while before then. but yeah, so why, why is she your weekly

PP: 34:33

she your did that was unbelievably inspiring was during Movember She ran 400 kilometers during November, for Movember. She ran 400 kilometers, to raise awareness for Movember and for men's mental health specifically. and that was a massive goal. That's a massive goal for anyone. It was a huge goal for Jenna. It was like a massive step up from, how much she was running. It was like,

Anna: 35:01

I think it was way more than double what she would normally run in a So, which is like crazy.

PP: 35:07

Like she, she knew that was a good chance that like she wouldn't be able to do it. and. She did such an amazing job at like, involving the whole community in this and bringing everyone along on this, this journey and by the end of it, it was like, everyone was barracking for her, like, checking on her Strava, how's she going, where's she up to, she ended up doing 410 kilometers,

Anna: 35:25

December. I know. I remember getting to December and being a little bit sad that it was over I think another one as well. Like when even though she was like challenging herself so much, she brought in this thing that. towards the end of a run, each person that you're like running with, or even if you're running solo, you think like, what am I grateful for today? It's so easy to do like at the end of a run, because obviously there's no real like distractions, you're not on your phone. So you can actually kind of like think about, what you're going to say. And I almost feel like by the end, I would actively think at the beginning of the run being like, hang on a second, what's something that I like haven't said before that really kind of like hits

PP: 36:06

Yeah, it was so, like, every run in November, we, anyone who's on the run, like, we'd all do our gratefuls, and one of the things I liked, like you said, I loved thinking about things I was grateful for, but I also loved hearing

Anna: 36:18

hearing. Other Yeah. I feel like

PP: 36:20

I feel like I learnt, these are people who we run with all the time, and then, but I still learnt things about

Anna: 36:25

about

PP: 36:26

and what was going on in their life, or the way they saw the world, or,

Anna: 36:29

no, I agree. Also, I feel like a lot of the time, they would say things that they're grateful for. And like, without me having recognised that beforehand, I was like, Oh, I'm for that too! Yeah, that's

PP: 36:40

bonus doing as a group. Yeah. In general, Jenna just brings so much positive energy and joy to our running group. And she's always the first one to check in on you, to help us out with this podcast, getting the ground. and yeah, I think we're both just like so inspired by her November and

Anna: 36:59

and always, yes, I love it. so yeah, I think that's about it.

PP: 37:03

I think that's about it. Thank you so much for listening. we can only get better from here.

Anna: 37:07

from here. We can only get better. This is the start. So if you're still listening, thank you so much. If you're

PP: 37:13

wow.

Anna: 37:14

Wow. out to you, mum. Um, and yeah, yeah, and we'll speak to you next week.

PP: 37:23

ya. See ya.

Anna: 37:30

Woo!

PP: 37:30

was good,

Anna: 37:32

That's good. I Yeah. Nailed it.

PP: 37:37

it. Yeah,